New rules for SC bar poll

A general body meeting of the Supreme Court Bar Association held on February 18 adopted both these radical reforms aimed at making elected representatives more accountable and preventing ‘‘outsiders’’ from forming a vote bank.

The resolution calling for a public debate was passed unanimously by the meeting presided over by bar association president R.K. Jain and attended by senior advocates like Anil Divan, K.K. Venugopal, P.P. Rao, Murli Bhandare and Anoop Chaudhary. The same resolution was mooted for the first time last March by advocate G Venkatesh Rao but it was not taken up because of resistance from members of the then executive committee.

Bhandare, a former president of the bar association, moved the other resolution redefining the eligibility of members to contest and vote. Jain told The Indian Express that over 80 per cent of those present at the meeting voted in favour of excluding outsiders.

The scheme envisaged by Bhandare is that before casting his vote, every member will sign a declaration affirming that neither has he voted nor shall he vote in the given year in other bar elections. Anybody found to have given a false declaration will be suspended from the association for three years.

Bhandare says his proposal was inspired by the Constitution which while permitting a citizen to reside anywhere in the country, restricts his right to vote to only one constituency. ‘‘This will put an end to the growing influence of outsiders who have little or no stake in the functioning of the Supreme Court bar,’’ says Bhandare.

Venkatesh Rao feels vindicated by the unanimous support for his public debate idea. ‘‘It’s just as well the apex bar will be setting an example on how elections should be based on policies and programmes,’’ says Rao.