HC orders holding of Bar elections in Delhi on one day for 2-year tenure

New Delhi: Elections to all bar associations in the national Capital shall be held on a single day for a uniform tenure of two years, the Delhi High Court ordered on Tuesday. The high court said a candidate cannot contest elections to more than one bar association even if they practise in multiple courts.

Delhi has six district courts.

“To ensure purity in elections and to curb use of money power, this court prohibits hosting of election parties, printing of posters and erection of hoardings,” a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justices Rajiv Shakdher and Suresh Kumar Kait said in an order. The bench said the candidates can hold physical and virtual meetings and use WhatsApp or other social media to propagate their ideas for improvements they propose to bring about in the interest of the legal fraternity.

The high court was hearing a batch of petitions on whether elections to the executive committees of different bar associations should be held simultaneously and if the tenure of such committees should be for a uniform period.

The other issue raised in the petitions was whether Identity/ Proximity Cards and Radio Frequency Identification Tag/Stickers (RFID) should

be mandatorily issued to all lawyers and by whom.