Tribunal sets aside elections of Chandigarh Bar body

In view of the order, council announced a five-member working committee for day-to-day functioning of the District Bar Association

An election tribunal of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana (BCPH) has set aside the November 6, 2020, election conducted for the executive body of District Bar Association (DBA), Chandigarh.

The tribunal of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana directed the returning officer to hold fresh elections of the District Bar Association, Chandigarh, within a period of one month. (HT FILE PHOTO)

The election was set aside on the complaint of one Neeraj Hans, who said that guidelines issued by the Bar Council were not properly followed, bogus votes were cast and the entire elections were conducted in an extremely casual, biased and faulty manner.

The tribunal held that the entire election process had been vitiated and therefore, the entire election process of the office bearers of the DBA, Chandigarh, was being set aside. The tribunal directed the returning officer to hold fresh elections of the DBA within a period of one month. The chairman of BCPH was asked to put in place an ad hoc committee for the day-to-day working of the DBA.

Bhag Singh Suhag was elected as DBA president and five others on different posts.

In view of this order on Friday, the BCPH announced a five-member working committee for day-to-day functioning of the District Bar Association. The committee will be headed by lawyer Ashok Sharma.

Chairman Minderjeet Yadav said that the ad hoc committee has been constituted in view of the decision of the election tribunal of BCPH, which set aside the November 2020 election on August 25.