Election Season at the Delhi Bar Lawyers go campaigning on social networks

The Delhi High Court Bar Association elections were held yesterday in the premises of the Delhi High Court. Campaigns for the Delhi Bar Council Elections, to be held on December 1 and 2, have heated up. The Bar Council will elect 25 Executive Members and it is rumoured that more than 200 to 250 Members will contest in these elections. Some candidates have taken to the electronic medium to campaign for the elections..The announcement of the new members of the High Court Bar Association of Delhi is expected later today..The Delhi High Court Bar Association elections were held yesterday in the premises of the Delhi High Court. In the running were Additional Solicitor General, A.S. Chandiok, former President of the Bar Association, K.C. Mittal, J.P Singh and Anil Sapra. D.K. Sharma, formerly the Secretary, Anil Gautam and Sunil Kumar Mittal stood for the post of Secretary. There were six nominations for the post of Joint Secretary and 18 candidates stood for the posts of executive members..This election has seen its share of controversies. K.C. Mittal had earlier questioned the eligibility of Chandiok to contest the elections as he is the Additional Solicitor General. Chandiok, who was the President of the Delhi High Court Bar Association for four terms, had told media persons that he is eligible to contest the elections. “There is no rule that a lawyer holding a government post cannot contest Bar elections. As long as my membership of the Bar is not under question, I am eligible to contest. Mr. Setalvad, the first Attorney General was the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association for 13 years and Mr. Asthana, who was the Advocate General, was the President of the Allahabad High Court Bar Association,” he informed the press..Campaigns for the Delhi Bar Council Elections, to be held on December 1 and 2, have heated up. The Bar Council will elect 25 Executive Members and it is rumoured that more than 200 to 250 Members will contest in these elections. In a list of Bar Council contestants consisting almost entirely of litigators having an independent practice, Vijay Sondhi’s candidature stands out. A senior Partner at Luthra & Luthra, Delhi, he is probably the only partner of a large law firm contesting the elections. “Colleagues at the Bar are viewing this as a battle between law firms and practicing advocates”, says Sondhi. “It is an impression that they have, I don’t understand why!” states the founding Partner of Chandok, Sharma & Sondhi, which merged with Luthra in 1991. The Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF) has also nominated him as their official candidate..Some candidates have taken to the electronic medium to campaign for the elections. Sondhi has an official fan page on Facebook. “There are nearly 30,000 lawyers in Delhi. It is difficult to meet every one of them. Lots of them do not use computers, but it is easy to reach out to the people who do use computers through e-mails or Facebook. It is quick, you can start discussions, its potential is limitless”, he explains. Classified advertisements were also published online to campaign for some of the other candidates..Several lawyers are campaigning for their friends on other social networking sites. One such lawyer, Sudhir Kumar, who is campaigning for advocate Ranjan Kumar Pandey, told Bar & Bench, “I am campaigning for my friend, and doing my bit so that he is elected.” When asked whether any controversies or clashes occur during these elections, he replied, “Lawyers are intellectual people. So there is hardly any trouble during these elections.”.The Bar Association elections concluded yesterday and counting is under way. Some of the contestants for the Delhi Bar Association are also expected to contest in the Bar Council elections. The announcement of the new members of the High Court Bar Association of Delhi is expected later today.