The Punjab and Haryana High Court has quashed the order of the Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana to conduct online elections of all bar associations of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.
The special bench of Justice RK Jain and Justice Jaswant Singh gave this order while accepting the petition filed by the lawyers against the online election. A detailed decision on the petition is yet to come.
All the senior advocates of the High Court were in favour of the High Court Bar Association in this matter and opposed to the online election.
The Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana had issued a notification on 9 September mentioning that elections of all the districts and sub-division Bar Associations of Chandigarh and Punjab along with the High Court will be held online on 30 September and for Haryana on 1 October.
The petitioning lawyers said that the Bar Council did not consult any of the parties before taking this decision. Sources also said that some members of the Bar Council were not involved in the decision to hold the elections.
The petition said that when the courts are closed due to the corona epidemic and hearing is being done through video conferencing, then in such a situation, it is not necessary to hold the election.
Therefore, the petitioners had demanded the cancellation of the election notification. Accepting this demand, the High Court has quashed the election notification.
