Punjab and Haryana Bar Council seeks info from HC on procedure to select senior advocates

The Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana has sought information from the High Court regarding the procedure adopted for selection and designation of senior advocates. The decision was taken during an emergency meeting held at Law Bhawan in Sector 37, under the chairpersonship of president Rakesh Gupta,

It has also been decided to seek information on whether the selection has been carried out as per the old or new rules, and whether it was in consonance with the judgment in Indira Jaisingh’s case. The other information sought included whether the marks, if any, awarded to individual candidates, along with the complete data/criteria adopted for evaluation.

It also seeks to know if marks awarded to the candidates were uploaded on the website before being placed before the Court for taking the final decision on selection of candidates.

The information as to whether any candidates who has neither filed nor appeared in any case in recent years were considered for designation, whether the notification inviting applications was duly circulated and whether there were any criteria adopted for Schedule Caste/Schedule Tribe and women candidates have also been sought.

The issue regarding the allotment of new enrolment numbers to the senior advocates designated by the HC was also discussed during the meeting.

The resolution passed in the meeting says that the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana has received numerous complaints from members of the legal fraternity and advocates alleging that proper procedure was not followed before finalising the list. The council took into view of allegations of favouritism and nepotism coupled with the fact that several meritorious candidates have been left out while many non-deserving candidates have been designated as senior advocates.