Whose bar is it anyway? Supreme Court questions Delhi High Court decision recognising lawyers body

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice in an appeal against a Delhi High Court decision which recognised the Central Delhi Court Bar Association as the main bar body for the Rouse Avenue District Court [Rouse Avenue District Court Bar Association v. The Bar Council of Delhi and Another]..On April 8, the High Court had rejected the claim of the Rouse Avenue Bar Association, the Delhi Rouse Avenue Court Bar Association and the Rouse Avenue District Court Bar Association which had all staked their claim to be declared as the recognised bar association for the Rouse Avenue Court.Aggrieved by the High Court's decision, the associations had approached the apex court..Delhi High Court recognises Central Delhi Court Bar Association as the bar body for Rouse Avenue Court.When the matter was taken up today by a Bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih, the Court said,"We are wondering why should the High Court entertain writ for deciding which Bar Association is the real one? Why High Court should entertain such petitions from the member of the bar?"Counsel for the Rouse Avenue Bar Association submitted that the High Court has decided on something which was not asked from it. He said that all they wanted was for the High Court to issue a direction to the Bar Council of Delhi to decide on this aspect.The Court has now issued notice on the appeal and has posted the matter after four weeks..In its decision, the High Court had said that merely because an association has been validly formed does not imply its recognition as a court-annexed association or as a recognised association under the Advocates Welfare Fund Act.The Court held that the fundamental rights of all citizens to form an association as enshrined in Article 19(1)(c) of the Constitution of India does not include the right to be recognised as a bar association by a State Bar Council or by the Court for the purposes of availing benefits that flow from such recognition.“Insofar as the fundamental right of all citizens to form an Association as enshrined in Article 19(1)(c) of the Constitution is concerned, there can be no dispute with the propositions that such Associations can be formed… However, merely because an Association has been validly formed does not ipso facto entail recognition as a Court annexed Association or as a recognized Association under the Advocates Welfare Fund Act,” the Court had said..[Read Live Coverage]