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Delhi bar council

25 February 2013

Delhi bar councilExclusive: The Supreme Court has admitted a petition against the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD), which in 2011 co-opted the son of late BCD chairman KK Sareen, Aman Sareen, to its membership through hereditary succession.

22 March 2012

Adish Aggarwala Khosla: Requires at least one yearExclusive: Senior advocate Dr Adish C Aggarwala was voted in as chairman of the Bar Council of Delhi (DBC), defeating Delhi Bar Association president Rajiv Khosla by 15 out of 25 votes at the Council’s 2012-2014 term committee election held yesterday, with Khosla alleging cartel voting.

19 March 2012

Vijay Sondhi Jaibir NagarExclusive: The Bar Council of Delhi will hold its 2012-2014 term council committee election on Wedesday (23 March), as Luthra & Luthra senior partner Vijay K Sondhi - the only bar council member from a major law firm – has already been declared vice chairman after running unopposed.

10 May 2011

The Delhi High Court has upheld the appointment of the son of late Delhi Bar Council chairman K K Sareen following controversy and the writ petition over hereditary succession.

30 November 2010

image Exclusive: The Delhi bar council held an emergency meeting yesterday, ruling on allegations by its youngest member Rajesh Mishra’ that he was assaulted by a pistol-armed group of lawyers, including elected Delhi bar council member [...], following an altercation ostensibly over recognition of a local bar association.

21 November 2010

examination-hall_by_comedy-nose Latest update: All 2010 law graduates may be able to practise law subject to giving an undertaking they would clear the all-India bar exam within two years, according to a bar council source.

24 September 2010

Rakesh Tiku has been elected chairman of the Delhi bar council, winning all 14 votes cast today against opponent Rakesh Goswami in a fresh election held today after the post was left vacant for over two months following the demise of former chairman K K Sareen.

06 August 2010

delhi_high_courtThe Delhi bar council has become embroiled in controversy about whether there is a right to hereditary succession following the demise of incumbent chairman KK Sareen last month, as Luthra & Luthra lawyer Vijay Sondhi has continued his unrelated letter-writing campaign against the bar council's "mess".

19 July 2010

Bar-Council-Delhi-KK-SareenDelhi Bar Council’s incumbent chairman and eminent criminal lawyer K K Sareen (pictured) passed away on Saturday in Delhi at the age of 64 after suffering from a year-long heart ailment.

31 March 2010

advertisement-coca-cola_by_Meanest_IndianThe Bar Council of Delhi has decided to frame a draft proposal to more stringently regulate law firms to prevent flouting of Bar Council of India (BCI) and Advocates Act rules and to strictly enforce the advertisement ban and publicity rules governing law firm websites.

12 March 2010

LuthraLuthra-Vijay-SondhiDelhi Bar Council members Vijay Sondhi and Rakesh Tiku have filed a writ petition to order the Bar Council of India (BCI) to settle a dispute challenging the election of R S Rana as member delegate to the BCI.

23 February 2010

Bar-Council-Delhi-KK-SareenK K Sareen has been elected chairman and Jaiveer Nagar vice-chairman of the Delhi Bar Council while Rajinder Singh Rana has been declared member delegate for the Bar Council of India (BCI).

19 February 2010

delhi_high_courtElections to the executive posts of the Delhi Bar Council will be held on Monday at 4.15 pm in the High Court office of the Bar Council of Delhi, after having been pulled earlier this month due to "illegality and irregularity" charges against the election committee members.  

15 January 2010

Delhi India Gate and AmbassadorThe Delhi Bar Council has formed its election committee and selected temporary members to working committees, as the 25 newly elected members are locked in tough negotiations for the top positions until February.

18 December 2009

LuthraLuthra-Vijay-SondhiSole law firm candidate and Luthra & Luthra partner Vijay Sondhi has won a seat on the Delhi Bar Council in 22nd place out of 25 candidates with almost 640 votes.

17 December 2009

ballot_box-by-Anthony_KaranjaRamesh Gupta has been confirmed as the latest member of the Delhi Bar Council as the counting of votes enters the last stage, having now eliminated 95 candidates. Nine out of the 30 remaining candidates, including Luthra & Luthra partner Vijay Sondhi, are still at risk of losing. 

15 December 2009

delhi_high_courtA third candidate, Murari Tiwari, has made the cut in the Delhi Bar Council elections, as voting is expected to conclude by Friday (18 December), with more than half of the 129 candidates already eliminated.

12 December 2009

delhi_high_courtThe first results of the Delhi Bar Council elections are in, with two candidates already safely past the post out of 129 candidates competing for 25 places.

04 December 2009

LuthraLuthra-Vijay-SondhiLuthra & Luthra billings will have seen a dent on Wednesday as a legion of the firm's lawyers patrolled the Delhi High Court during the Delhi Bar Council elections garnering last-minute support for their candidate Vijay Sondhi (pictured).
Contesting lawyers, commuters and litigants will also now breathe a sigh of relief with the close of polling on Wednesday.

The Delhi Bar Council elections reportedly led to severe traffic congestions and adjournments in and around the courts on Tuesday and Wednesday, as voter turnout spiked by 50 per cent compared to the 13,500 who voted five years ago.
Picking up the new voters was therefore the prime directive for the 129 candidates, of whom only 25 will make it onto the executive of the Delhi Bar Council.

Luthra & Luthra litigation partner Vijay Sondhi - as a first time candidate and as the only law firmite standing in Delhi -  will have been eying the new voters particularly.

He said on Wednesday: "I am relaxed now, but the elections are not over and done with… The counting process starts tomorrow [3 December] and it is a round-the-clock process which lasts a 4-5 days."

Hoping to win, Sondhi noted: "I am positive, all the law firms wanted their legal representative. SILF [Society of Indian Law Firms] had passed a resolution selecting me as an official candidate. I enjoyed the support of both law firms and lawyers that have been litigating with me for 20 years now. Each and every one of them has been a pillar of support for me."

However, privately several Delhi lawyers were doubtful that the election would swing in Sondhi's favour, despite reporting a large number of Luthra lawyers on site and spotting several law firm lawyers.
Sondhi remained optimistic. "All my friends and well-wishers worked tirelessly and the last few weeks were especially hectic.
"We're not politicians so we had to work at the ground level. Small things were missing like we didin't have any presence outside the court like other candidates had put up their tents, desks, tables and chairs. At 9:15 we sent some people to arrange all of that."
Sondhi added: "We want our professional bodies to be run by professionals, professional practising lawyers not by politicians."

However, he said that the elections were a good learning experience despite facing procedural difficulties.

One law firm associate said that the election was smoothly organised and that voting queues were only around 20 minutes in the morning.
Sondhi had expressed fears before the election that long queues would turn law firm voters off. Results of our poll too suggested that a large number of law firmites were apathetic about the elections and would not bother to vote.

The first phase of election registered 11,800 votes in the Delhi High Court on 1 December and 9,000 lawyers in Tis Hazari on 2 December totalling 20,800 out of 41,400 lawyers who were entitled to vote.

The Bar Council of India is a statutory body which consists of elected members from various state bar councils.
The Bar Council of Delhi's current chairman, Ved Prakash Sharma told Legally India that he was satisfied with the way elections were conducted and noted: "It would have not been possible without the support and supervision of the returning officer, retired justice S K Mahajan, who was also assisted by three member team of advocates Sanjay Jain, Maninder Singh and vice president of Delhi High Court Bar Association, Kirti Uppal."

Sharma added: "100 staff members from the High Court, 20 people from the election commissioners office and 50 advocates helped in organising the elections."
"We will continue our agenda of ensuring the welfare of lawyers through measures like providing group insurance and medical facilities over and above working towards the reforming the system." 
He added that election result would not be out before the end of next week.

The 25 elected members will then internally elect a chairman, vice-chairman and secretary.

ALMT Legal partner Hitesh Jain, meanwhile, is still conducting his campaign for the Maharashtra & Goa Bar Council elections, with polling to be held on 7 January 2010.

He is campaigning especially in his place of work Mumbai, his hometown Pune and the outlying areas, taking off several days a week from his partnership duties to hit the road.