Bar&Bench News Network
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Executive Committee has been dissolved and a three-member interim committee comprising former presidents of the SCBA and Senior Counsels, K.K Venugopal, P.P. Rao and P.H. Parikh, will take over the functioning of the Association amid controversies regarding financial irregularities amongst other allegations.
Growing discontent between members of the SCBA has reached boiling point. The feud was made public when a letter was allegedly written by President of the SCBA, Krishnamani in response to a complaint by Treasurer Manish Mohan. The letter accused Pareena Swarup, the Secretary of SCBA of financial irregularities and maladministration.
When an Executive Committee meeting was called for to take actions against Swarup, members disrupted the proceedings with loud slogans and squabbling. Krishnamani, President of SCBA, speaking to Bar & Bench said, "We cannot conduct meetings in this atmosphere. Justices Sanyal and H.L. Aggarwal who were presiding over the meeting remarked that we would need orthopedic and a cardiac specialists to attend the meetings." The Executive Committee consists of 21 members and was scheduled to go for elections in May this year. However, owing to the dissolution, the elections may be advanced to March this year, said Krishnamani.
Pareena Swarup, believes that Krishnamani is the scapegoat in the entire fiasco. "All sorts of false letters and sms' are being sent which is not creating an unhealthy work environment. There are several allegations of financial irregularities within SCBA and I didn't want the Executive Committee to function in such an atmosphere." Swarup informed Bar & Bench that Krishnamani has denied issuing the notice. However, Krishnamani confirmed having issued the notice. A copy of the notice is available here.
Internal squabbling has resulted in the incapacitation of SCBA. The Association has been unable to take decisions on several important issues on account of this fiasco. Several proposed amendments to bring about transparency and smooth functioning in the Association's affairs, especially the elections, have been suspended.
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- 1. "REGRETS, SCBA I was deeply peeved to read the news of premature dissolution of current Supreme Court Bar Association(SCBA) Executive Committee amidst grave allegations regarding financial impropriety and other irregularities. If the contents of a alleged notice issued against incumbent Honorary Secretary by SCBA President is any indication, it reveals the sorry state-of-affairs prevailing in the executive of bar association of country's Apex court. Without commenting on veracity of allegations, i must assert such things should not be allowed to happen again. In 2008 too, a mass scale rigging was alleged in the annual elections of SCBA after which the observer, the then Solicitor-General, Ghulam E Vahanvati (Now Attorney General), had vowed never to be part of any such election in future. What is this happening in our bar panels ? If this is the situation in the Bar of highest court of the country, one can easily imagine what would be happening in other courts ? Of late, the elections to bodies of High Court /District Court Bar have assumed the shape of supremacy and prestige issue among different groups of advocates practising within such courts. No doubt, now a days almost every advocate keep its inclination towards ideology of one political party or the other, if not its active member, hence every particular group desires to be at the helm of affairs of its concerned bar association. Though it is neither illegal nor unethical, but the way these elections are being contested now a days with open distribution of money, attractive sops, liquor and employment of other malpractices is indeed a matter of serious oncern. It requires immediate resurrection for maintaining the dignity and repute of the noble profession of an advocate. The Bar Council of India in consultation with state bar councils must take suitable initiatives in this regard. Further, elected executive of every Bar association needs to function with a sufficient degree of transparency and accountability so as to tame possible instances like current one witnessed in SCBA. Perhaps, it cant be ensured merely be framing rules/regulations by appropriate authorities. It ultimately depends on the wisdom and statesmanship of those elected ones. Would they set an example by becoming a role model for other elected bodies in the country ? HEMANT KUMARADVOCATE ". HEMANT KUMAR ADVOCATE, AMBALA CITY/ HARYANA
- 2. "This is the biggest comment i have seen in my life for any article.. good going hemant". @ Hemanth, Bangalore
- 3. "Oh Darn!! I was about to apply for SCBA membership. Can i still do it??". Aseem Aggarwal, Chandigarh
- 4. "Recent developments in SCBA might set bad precedent and might dissappoint people of india who has some respect to the legal fraternity.". Ch.Prabhakar Rao, Rajahmundry
- 5. "Expensive site. I stumbled here by mistake.". Sveta, Delhi
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The Viewpoint: Indemnification Provisions - Is the fight on the indemnity clause worth the effort?
May 17, 2012 | Bar & Bench brings to you the twentieth article on 'The Viewpoint' series with its Knowledge Partner AZB & Partners. AZB Senior Associate Nandish Vyas and Associate Pranati Ishwar in this article seek to examine the context in which indemnification rights are relevant for acquisition transactions, and also seek to explore if there are areas where they are potentially not worth the comments (4)
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