New Delhi, Jan 27 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Bar Council of India (BCI) to amicably resolve the issue of adequate honorarium and travel allowances to be paid to former judges appointed to monitor State Bar Council elections.
Earlier in the day, a bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant pulled up the counsel for the BCI for not paying adequate honorarium and travel allowances to retired judges appointed to oversee the State Bar Council elections.
Observing that the issue raises serious concerns about dignity and fairness, the bench, also comprising justices R Mahadevan and Joymalya Bagchi, asked the BCI counsel to take instructions and appear before it on Wednesday.
However, BCI chairperson and senior advocate Manan Kumar Mishra appeared before the bench in the forenoon itself and said the apex bar body simply forwarded the letter to the supervisory committee headed by former apex court judge Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia.
“Please resolve the issue amicably,” the CJI told Mishra.
The BCI chairperson assured the bench that the issue will be resolved.
Earlier, the bench took up the issue following an oral mention by senior advocate V Giri, a member of the High-Powered Election Supervisory Committee constituted by the court.
Giri informed the bench that retired high court chief justices and judges serving on the High-Powered Election Committees were being paid honorarium and allowances that were not commensurate with their stature.
He submitted that when the matter was raised before the BCI, it responded that the proposed amounts were “too much” and not feasible.
“These are former Chief Justices and judges of high courts. The honorarium must be befitting their status,” Giri told the court, adding that the BCI had refused to enhance payments.
He requested the court to either issue appropriate directions or authorise Justice (Retd.) Sudhanshu Dhulia, who heads the Supervisory Committee, is to take necessary steps in this regard.
Giri also handed over to Justice Dhulia the written response received from the BCI on the issue.
During the hearing, Giri further flagged another issue relating to the conduct of elections to the Rajasthan State Bar Council.
He informed the court that the BCI had constituted a separate committee for Rajasthan on the ground that the state was not specifically mentioned in the Supreme Court’s order by which High-Powered Election Committees were constituted for various states.
Terming the BCI’s action as contrary to both the letter and spirit of the court’s order, Giri submitted that the independently constituted committee had already gone ahead and notified elections in Rajasthan.
Questioning the BCI’s conduct, the CJI asked counsel appearing for the council, “Why have you not included Rajasthan, and why are you constituting a committee separately?” The bench directed the BCI to respond to both issues by Wednesday, specifically asking it to explain why a separate committee was formed for the Rajasthan Bar Council elections without informing the Supreme Court.
The CJI also expressed strong disapproval of the denial of allowances to the retired judges.
“You fixed the election fee on the ground that it will generate sufficient funds for conducting elections. Now you are telling retired judges you can’t pay them honorarium, you can’t pay travel allowances. What will they do? Do they have their own aircraft?” the CJI said.
Highlighting the practical difficulties faced by committee members, Giri submitted that judges were being asked to make their own travel and accommodation arrangements and bear expenses upfront.
“One of the judges expressed that all bookings have to be done by the judges themselves. When they reach there, the facilities provided are not befitting even a former chief justice. Payments have to be made from their own pocket. This is not correct,” he said.
In his response, the BCI counsel submitted that an affidavit had been filed proposing payments.
However, Giri pointed out that the proposal only spoke of reimbursement, which would involve delays and was inadequate given the circumstances.
The issue arises in the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s earlier orders aimed at ensuring timely and transparent elections to State Bar Councils.
The bench constituted High-Powered Election Committees headed by former high court chief justices and comprising former high court judges to oversee the conduct of elections in each state.
In addition, a High-Powered Election Supervisory Committee was formed, comprising Justice (Retd) Sudhanshu Dhulia, Justice Ravi Shankar Jha (former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court), and senior advocate V. Giri, to supervise the overall process. PTI SJK RHL
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.