Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, who demanded a judicial probe into the judge bribery allegations, is a top contender for SCBA president’s post.
New Delhi: Fixing judicial accountability and restoring the dignity of the apex court were among the key issues which dominated the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) elections, voting for which concluded Wednesday.
The SCBA election sees debates on the relationship between the bar and bench every year. This year, it comes in the backdrop of a fierce disagreement between some judges and advocates over the handling of bribery allegations against judges.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, who was at the forefront in demanding a judicial probe into the allegations and recusal of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, is one of the top contenders for the post of SCBA president.
Dave has pitched his candidature on ensuring that the bar is treated with respect and supporting their actions before judges.
Dave, Prashant Bhushan and Kamini Jaiswal were criticised by the judges while their petitions seeking a judicial probe into the judge bribery allegations were dismissed. This week, another senior lawyer, Rajeev Dhawan hung his boots after a confrontation with the chief justice in court.
“After the humiliating end to the Delhi case, I have decided to give up practice,” he wrote to the chief justice.
One of Dave’s opponents is R.S. Suri, the incumbent president of SCBA. The latter has been very critical of lawyers critiquing judges. The SCBA under him had, in fact, recommended that Dave and Prashant Bhushan be charged with contempt of court.
“The Supreme Court is acting as 13 supreme judges and not as one Supreme Court,” senior advocate Vikas Singh, another contender for the president’s post, said in his address Tuesday.
Another issue that has gathered steam is allowing audio and video recording of court proceedings. R.P. Luthra promised to work towards bringing the judges on board for this, if elected to office.
Even as lawyers discuss key issues affecting their profession, gender is not one of them. The dismal trend of the low representation of women continues. There is not even a single woman candidate in the 17 lawyers contesting for the top three posts — president, vice-president and secretary.
Election results are likely to be announced next week.