Petition before SC calls for elections in J&K State Bar Council, abolish practice of Chief Justice heading State Bar Council

A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking, amongst other things, the election of members to the Bar Council of Jammu & Kashmir. At present, the state’s Chief Justice heads the State Bar Council (SBC) with other judges making up the rest of the council. This has been the state of affairs ever since the Advocates Act was extended to J&K in 1986..The petition, filed by former J&K MLA, Professor Bhim Singh has asked for democratic practices to be introduced in the SBC so that the J&K SBC is placed “at par with Bar Councils” of other states..What is particularly disturbing is that the Advocates Act of 1961 was only extended to J&K in 1986, a full 25 years after the self-regulatory legislation came into existence. Under the Advocates Act, the State Bar Council is supposed to consist of members elected by enrolled lawyers. In the case of J&K though, the situation is entirely different..In this northern state, the SBC is headed by the Chief Justice; there are no elections to the SBC simply because the rules allowing for such elections have yet to be framed. The SBC is currently governed by S.58 of the Advocates Act that allows for the High Court to discharge the functions of an SBC, “…insofar as they relate to the admission and enrolment of advocates…”.Prof. Singh, who spent 8 years in jail as a student leader, had to enroll before the Delhi Bar Council in 1972 since the J&K SBC did not even exist at that time. Since then, he has raised this issue various times in the J&K State Parliament, with little success. Finally, earlier this year, Prof. Singh approached the Prime Ministers Office with a request to direct the authorities to frame rules for elections to the SBC. The PMO replied that the matter would be referred to the J&K government..Unsatisfied by the response, Prof. Singh approached the Supreme Court through a petition under Article 32 of the Constitution. Yesterday, a Division Bench of Justices TS Thakur and Vikramajit Sen issued notice in the petition, and the matter is expected to come up next in September this year..Speaking to Bar & Bench, petitioner Prof. Bhim Singh says that lawyers are deprived of their right to elect their leaders. “I have no right to vote,” says Prof Singh, “and no right to speak in the [State] Bar Council.”.He also says that the bigger problem is that people are simply unaware of the realities of Jammu and Kashmir. “Agar iss mulk ke log, intellectuals and politicians, Kashmir ko samajh sakte, he says, “toh khoon behta nahi.” (If the country’s intellectuals and politicians understood J&K, there wouldn’t be the bloodshed we see today.)