Meet the candidates for the Supreme Court Bar Association elections

It’s that time of the year again! With the SCBA elections just around the corner, the Apex Court seems to have become the hub of political ambitions. With Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave finally vacating the office due to a bar against contesting after two consecutive terms as the President, the race to the throne has gotten very interesting..We bring to you a list of Presidential candidates for the election, and their manifestos..Rajiv Dutta.One of the most unique manifestos this year comes for Senior Advocate Rajiv Dutta. Even as he remains appreciative of the efforts made by the Bar in the previous years, he makes it a point to note that certain things could be better..“I truly believe that the Bar Association does contribute to the development of law in many ways; a Bar Association is not just a library, a cafeteria and chambers..I would love to have a category of fees for lawyers, which could be considered standard, especially for litigants from less affluent backgrounds.”.And while he does believe that the profession must yield to people who can, and do struggle, he notes that,.“Junior advocates must not be treated like mules. A fixed stipend must be allotted to them, and they must be encouraged to be valuable members of the Bar.”.RS Suri.A highly respected lawyer, Senior Advocate RS Suri has a multi-dimensional approach to the upliftment of the Bar..“My effort would be to build bridges between the Bar and the judiciary and the Bar and the Executive. The SCBA would act as a catalyst so that there is proper dialogue between the judiciary and the executive..A well thought out strategy to run the affairs of the Bar makes his agenda extremely hard to ignore..My plan, if I am voted in, is to identify 50 seniors, 50 mid-level lawyers and 50 juniors and about 15 senior most lawyers among the Seniors..I would then form various committees. These committees would be assigned specific tasks – infrastructure, continuing legal education, applied soft skills, chambers, housing etc. Each committee would have an SCBA Executive Committee member as its convenor. The committee will have a tenure lasting more than 3 years. These committees will be monitored by the SCBA Executive Committee..And of course I will do something for Gender sensitisation which is an extremely important issue.”.Suri is also distressed at the manner in which elections to SCBA are fought..“Today we see that even the elections [to SCBA] are being fought on the basis of caste and region. Let us take the examples of those who got us freedom. Can a Bengali say that Subhash Chandra Bose belongs only to him? Can I say about Bhagat Singh that he is a Sardar and therefore, he belongs to me? .If such divisive thoughts run in the apex Bar of the country, then it has to be revisited [by us]”, he says..Adish Aggarwala.The man who lost in a close-fought battle with Dushyant Dave two years ago, Aggarwala makes a habit of not beating around the bush. His plan centers around the construction of lawyers’ chambers, which has been a major issue in the recent past..“I am proposing to construct 269 lawyers’ cabins around the Old Chambers Block. Further, I will be opposing the shifting of occupants of old chambers to Appu Ghar complex. Supreme Court has decided to shift these occupants to Appu Ghar complex and set up registry office in the Old Chamber block..Besides these, another item on my agenda is the number of chambers in Appu Ghar complex. Initially, when Justice KG Balakrishnan had laid the foundation stone, 500 chambers were proposed to be constructed. The Supreme Court has now reduced it to 250. I will oppose the same and seek 750 new chambers [in the Appu Ghar] complex.”.Vikas Singh.Senior Advocate Vikas Singh has adopted a two pronged approach: pacifying the senior members to ensure their co-operation, and encouragement of young talent to ensure that the legacy of the Bar stays in place..“My first goal is to unite the Bar against the various scandals that have threatened to create problems. I would like us to be an opinion maker for young advocates, and encourage the free flow of ideas between its members. I would like to conduct debates and discussions within the bar to achieve this end..I would also like to put in place a system to provide them with a minimum stipend or placements, and mentorship, whether it is court manners, or knowledge, or ethics.”.Kailash Vasdev, who is also running for the post of President, could not be contacted at the time of publication..Vice President.Senior Advocate Ajit Kumar Sinha is running for a second time and faces challenge from the following:.Senior Advocate Mahalakshmi PavniSenior Advocate Ranji ThomasTripurari RayYagya Deo SharmaDD Sharma.Secretary.Current Secretary Gaurav Bhatia is also running for a second term. Bhatia is vocal when it comes to camaraderie among the members of the Bar..“It is very satisfying to tell all the members of the Bar that here is a Bar that listens to you, here is a Bar that is responsive. .Sharing his vision for the Bar, he said the following:.My dream and vision is that our young lawyers should also scale great heights and it is our job to provide them a conducive environment so that they don’t have to worry about their social security. I also want to see the first lady Chief Justice coming from this Bar Association.”.Bhatia will battle it out against the following for the post of Secretary:.Anjani Kumar JhaRachana SrivastavaJitendra Kumar MahapatraBharat RamBharat Bhushan Dinkar.The elections will be held on December 14.