Bar Council Election Tribunal imposes Rs50K cost on DBA chief Bhag Singh Suhag

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 22

The Election Tribunal of the Punjab and Haryana Bar Council has imposed a cost of Rs50,000 on Bhag Singh Suhag, president of the District Bar Association (DBA), Chandigarh, for setting aside ex parte proceedings against him.

The Tribunal directed Suhag to pay the amount in the Covid-19 fund of the Punjab and Haryana Bar Council in a week, failing which the order proceeded ex parte against him on July 1, 2021, will become operative.

The Tribunal has passed the order on a petition challenging the election process of the DBA held last year. The Tribunal, in the order, says “the approach of the respondent number seven (Bhag Singh Suhag) from the beginning is of casual nature and he took the present proceedings lightly.”

The Tribunal, in the order passed on July 1, decided to proceed ex parte against the respondent number seven after none from his side was present during the hearing.

Suhag filed the reply on July 16 before the Tribunal and said his absence was not intentional and wilful. However, the counsel for the petitioner strongly opposed the setting aside of ex parte proceedings and demanded that at least Rs1 lakh cost should be imposed on the respondent number seven for setting aside ex parte proceedings.

The Tribunal in the order says the respondent number seven wanted to kill time as much as he can so that the present election petition may become infructuous in the month of November, 2021.

“We are aware of this fact that due to the pandemic the matter could not be decided within two months and hearing was not possible also due to the lockdown. When proceedings were again started, the respondent number seven was again not serious in defending this case,” says the order.

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