Dispute between rival Chhattisgarh advocates bodies to be heard next week

A show cause notice issued by the Bar Council of Chhattisgarh to members of the Chhattisgarh High Court Practicing Advocates Bar Association (CHCPABA) has been stayed by the High Court..The Bar Council had issued notices to office bearers and members of the CHCPABA last year, asking them to show cause as to why their enrollment should not be suspended, for setting up their Association in 2016. This was pursuant to a complaint filed by the Chhattisgarh High Court Bar Association (CHBA)..The CHBA contended that advocates had violated the Association’s by-laws and the Advocates Rules by registering the CHCPABA..The notice was challenged as being without jurisdiction and authority of law. Advocate Satish Chandra Verma, who appeared for the CHCPABA, argued that the authority to suspend the enrollment of an advocate lay only with the disciplinary committee of the State Bar Council, and that too after the advocate/s were given the opportunity to be heard..Further, the State Bar Council by itself did not have the jurisdiction to issue show cause notices for cancellation of enrollment, Verma said. He also argued that the right to form an association was a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 19(1)(c) of the Indian Constitution..A single judge Bench of Justice Sanjay K Agrawal observed that,.“the suspension of an advocate’s enrollment /right to practice is (an) extremely serious act and the matter requires deeper consideration.”.The judge also issued interim orders staying the show cause notice, until further orders. The matter will be heard further next week..The protracted tussle between the two associations resulted in all CHCPABA office bearers being expelled from the CHCBA in May 2017, only to be re-instated a few months later..Sandeep Dubey, President of the CHCPABA told Bar & Bench that neither Association was currently recognised under the 2015 Verification Rules of the Bar Council of India (BCI)..Though the CHCBA was a recognised body under the 2009 Rules, it failed to fulfill the criteria set out under the 2015 rules, since it was not a registered society, said Dubey. He added that the CHCPABA was registered and had sought recognition by the BCI.