Will the real bar please stand up? Bar Association’s legal dispute for recognition reaches Supreme Court

On April 8, 2024, the high court recognised the Central Delhi Court Bar Association (the other association involved in the legal dispute), registered in March 2021, as the official Bar Association and directed a fresh membership drive for it. After the high court ruled in favour of the Central Delhi Court Bar Association, Rouse Avenue District Court Bar Association filed an appeal against the decision in the Supreme Court.

The high court had observed “glaring infractions” in three Bar Associations: Rouse Avenue Bar Association, Delhi Rouse Avenue Court Bar Association and Rouse Avenue District Court Bar Association. Pulling up these bar associations, the court had said the majority of their membership forms were blank and contained only the names and addresses of the applicants. Some forms, it said, were not even signed by the advocates.

“The balance naturally tilts in favour of the Bar Association constituted by the Bar Council of Delhi i.e. the Central Delhi Court Bar Association,” the high court had ruled.

Disappointed by this judgement, the Rouse Avenue District Court Bar Association moved the Supreme Court, submitting that the BCD, which was the regulator, had itself floated the other bar association. The association argued that the Bar Council should not interfere in the formation of bar associations.

On the other hand, the BCD, which was represented in the apex court by senior advocates Meenakshi Arora and Vijay Bishnoi, cited the Delhi High Court’s judgement, pointing out that the other association was formed before the court complex even came into existence. While issuing notice to the BCI, the Supreme Court did not grant a stay on the high court order as the Rouse Avenue District Court Bar Association sought.