HC orders one bar one vote rule across Delhi

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday passed a judgment stating that the ‘one bar one vote’ rule will apply for all bar associations in the Capital.

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday passed a judgment stating that the ‘one bar one vote’ rule will apply for all bar associations in the Capital.

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The Supreme Court had implemented the model for lawyers registered with the Supreme Court Bar Association four years ago.

Delhi has seven bar associations associated with the High Court and six District courts, along with several other bar associations attached with tribunals located here.

The implementation of the ‘one bar one vote’ concept means that an advocate in Delhi can vote only once in one bar association, regardless of her or his multiple bar association memberships.

“This rule would ensure that those with no commitment to courts and bar associations where they do not practice law, ordinarily, do not vote and defeat or diminish the value of votes of genuine practitioners,” a bench of Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice Siddharth Mridul said.

The bench also directed that the principle of ‘one advocate one chamber’ be implemented with immediate effect in the high court and the six district courts.

It said if an advocate has a chamber allotted in any of the courts in the capital, he or she will not be eligible to apply for another chamber.

Secretary of Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) said the HC order will help contain the influence of non-practising or irregularly practising advocates on the election process and misutilisation of chambers.