BCI Election Ashok Parija replaces Gopal Subramanium as the new BCI Chairman

The Bar Council of India, in its elections held yesterday has unanimously elected the new Chairman and the Vice-Chairman. Ashok K. Parija, BCI member from Orissa State Bar Council has been appointed as the Chairman of the Bar Council of India and Zafar Ahmed Khan, BCI member from Madhya Pradesh State Bar Council has been appointed as the Vice-Chairman, according to BCI press release..The Bar Council of India (BCI), in its elections held yesterday has unanimously elected the new Chairman and the Vice-Chairman. Ashok K. Parija (pictured), BCI member from Orissa State Bar Council has been appointed as the Chairman of the Bar Council of India and Zafar Ahmed Khan, BCI member from Madhya Pradesh State Bar Council has been appointed as the Vice-Chairman, according to BCI press release..The mid-term elections were held because the post of BCI Chairman had become vacant due to the resignation of Gopal Subramanium from the post of Solicitor-General of India. Last year too former Law Minister Veerappa Moily had asked Gopal Subramanium to resign from his BCI post so that he could concentrate full-time on his job as Solicitor-General..The term of the newly elected Chairman and Vice Chairman will be till April 2012 unless they are re-elected..Speaking to Bar & Bench, newly appointed Chairman Ashok Parija said, “I have stepped into the shoes of the former Solicitor-General Gopal Subramanium so I can’t fill his place but will continue all the good things that he had started”..Speaking on his priorities as the new Chairman of BCI, Parija said, “Our first priority is legal education for which we need to talk to the Government and find out a mechanism whereby we can create faculty. Because that is according to me the biggest handicap which the legal education is facing today. Our second priority is to ensure that all the college inspections which are pending for a long time are completed within some time frame”..He further said, “My immediate agenda now is to invite all our former Chairmans and consult with them and see what can be best done for the legal fraternity. I hope that things will work out and we will ensure reforms are on right track”..Appreciating Gopal Subramanium’s initiative of starting All India Bar Exam (AIBE) Parija said, “AIBE is doing extremely well and we will carry it forward”..The second AIBE 2011 was held yesterday after being postponed once. Except Chennai, the AIBE was conducted successfully in 31 venues in 26 cities across India. The attendance for the second AIBE across the country was approximately 97 percent..Parija while talking on the issue of entry of foreign law firms said, “The stated position of BCI is that we are not ready to accept the foreign firms as of now. We had a meeting in Kerala where the BCI and all the State Bar Councils had passed a resolution which is binding on us. But then that resolution also says that with passage of time we could relook into the matter as considerable time has gone by. We could also relook into areas like arbitration and other things. May be that is a call we will take sooner or later”..Parija joined the Bar as an Advocate in 1984 and was designated a Senior Advocate in High Court of Orissa in 2003. Khan is also a designated Senior Advocate in High Court of Madhya Pradesh.