Manan Kumar Mishra has been elected as the Chairman of the Bar Council of India for the third time, with his new two-year term to start from April 18 this year..A meeting to conduct elections for BCI office bearers was held yesterday, as per a resolution passed on December 5 last year. At the meeting, Mishra was declared Chairman unanimously, as no other name was proposed for this post..However, as per news reports in the Times of India and New Indian Express, BCI Co-Chairman S Prabhakaran has been unanimously elected as the Chairman of the BCI..However, Mishra clarified the position. He said,.“After the election, I had told Prabhakaran that during my absence he may discharge the routine functions of the Council.”.After this development, Mishra has now withdrawn the concession given by him to Prabhakaran saying,.“In view of several contradictory, wrong and baseless press releases given by Prabhakaran, the concession granted by me yesterday is hereby withdrawn.”.Mishra claims that he continues to be the Chairman, while S Prabhakaran has gone ahead and given a statement to New Indian Express as the current Chairman of BCI stating,.“My priority will be strengthening and revamping the legal education and streamline the legal profession. We have to address the problems faced by the advocates throughout the country by way of talks, without resorting to any form of agitation”..Speaking to Bar & Bench, S Prabhakaran said that he has been unanimously elected BCI Chairman only for four months starting today till April, 2016 after which Mishra will again take charge..Mishra was first elected as BCI Chairman in April 2012. In 2014, after his term expired, BCI Member from Rajasthan Biri Singh Sinsinwar was elected the Chairman. However, Sinsinwar resigned from the post and Mishra was again re-elected as Chairman.
