So, there’s been another press release by the Bar Council of India (BCI), in which chairman and senior counsel Manan Kumar Mishra shares several pearls of wisdom, criticising senior advocate Indira Jaising, which has been widely covered in the media (full release below).
Mishra’s ire appears to have been drawn this time by Jaising having very rightly pointed out on 23 March, after a widely panned Supreme Court judgment seen as curtailing the rights of minorities (and which triggered protests by Dalits), that the Supreme Court had no judges from scheduled castes or tribes:
Two upper cast judges of the Supreme Court of india have turned the SC & ST Act from protecting SC/ST to protecting Brahmins , no surprises , the SC has no SC/ST judges at all.
The BCI, which is the statutorily independent regulator and representative body of lawyers, has become increasingly and more loudly political in recent months. This is the second time that Mishra has taken the time out of his busy schedule to essentially chastise senior counsel Indira Jaising.
Last time, Dushyant Dave was also a target alongside Jaising, for apparently being too aggressive for the BCI’s liking before the Supreme Court in the BH Loya case, despite having done very little about, for instance, gang rapist-defence lawyers saying utterly awful things on camera.
Mishra himself is currently hoping for re-election, with votes for him in the years-overdue re-election to the Bihar bar council presumably being counted after elections were finally held on 27 March.
It also appears that Mishra and/or the BCI has recently been engaging the services of a ghost-writer, or at least a copy-editor, as the language is much more flowery than previous missives we have received from Mishra.
We have added paragraph spacings to the wall of text, added some emphasis, and annotated each with headlines from Mishra’s past.
Mishra press release annotated
After going through the Tweet and the statement issued by a senior, member of the Bar, I am really at a loss to understand as to where are we heading towards?
January 2016: CJI Thakur calls spade, spade, tells BCI to shape up: Shut down fake law colleges, improve disciplinaries
Day by day we are degrading the dignity & sanctity of our highest and holiest Institution, the institution in which the common man has utmost faith in.
When the common man loses all hope of any relief from all quarters, the court is his or her last resort and this is what has kept our democracy alive today.
February 2017: BCI has very secretly hiked bar exam fees by another 40% to Rs 3,500, now nearly 3 times 2010 cost
Democracy runs on a system of checks and balances, so that neither of our three institutions, be it the Legislature, the Executive or the Judiciary becomes supreme.
The courts, the High Courts and the Supreme court and the Hon’ble judges are breath and soul and they are one of the most important pillars of our Democracy, yet day in and day it is being seen that it has become a fashion, so as to say to degrade them, defame them and to belittle them for every action, order, judgement they make.
We may still expect statements to be made by novices, by the ones who are ignorant, but when it comes from members of the Bar, who are learned and who are the hands and tongue of litigants, it is unexpected and extremely painful.
There seems to be no fear, no thinking, no bar in the minds of people issuing such statements.
September 2016: BCI chairman to LI: ‘We don’t take notice of small mosquitoes like u.’ Now you ‘spread Dengue’, ‘our members will take care of you’
The sanctity of the institution, the sanctity of the judge, must be protected at all costs.
October 2016: ‘Prudent’ SC tells BCI to finally start bar council re-elections (as 11 are now unelected)
September 2016: 10 BCI members’ terms have expired with no sign of new elections (because ‘fake’ lawyers)
Our Hon’ble Judges must be given the privilege of atleast making orders, judgements without the fear or stigma of it being discussed and made a mockery of by one and all, and least of all by the Bar or members of the Bar.
Everyone knows that some of the Advocates are doing it either with some vested interest or in order to gain cheap popularity.
April 2017: BCI chair calls for book burning, sacking Law Com chair, law & order breakdown, more strikes
I would appeal to one and all and most importantly to the members of the Bar to realize the extent of damage occurring to the Institution and the irreparable injury that is being done to the people of this country, due to such reckless and irresponsible statements of a few Advocates, that too Senior Advocates levelling Bias of caste or of gender against a Judge of Supreme Court.
This is extremely unfortunate.
September 2016: 12 BCI members to fly to DC business class in Rs 48+ lakh IBA conference attendance
July 2016: Explained: How 3 corrupt BCI officials were jailed for taking bribes to inspect law schools
Our judiciary is the only Institution on which the people have blind faith and trust and we must safeguard it at all costs. No Judge acts with any feeling of casteism or with any other extraneous consideration.
January 2018: BCI chairman claims: Everything’s totally fine now at the SC
Indira Jaising is a person who is known to me.
August 2015: Turns out, despite statements to contrary, BCI has no idea how many lawyers are fake (will know in 7 months)
She is a seasoned, and learned Senior Advocate and I would urge her to withdraw the statements issued by her against our Hon’ble Judges.
Our fearless and bold Judges deserve the appraisal (sic) from the member of Bar and people of the country.
February 2017: In transparency shocker, bar council meetings get blanket RTI immunity from Delhi HC judge (who is an ex-BCI counsel)
We should not try to politicize the Institution.
April 2014: 1.7m lawyers must support Narendra Modi: Outgoing BCI chairman Mishra
February 2016: BCI waxes ‘patriotic’, part-excuses ‘true citizen’ thug lawyers beating up JNU ‘unlawful assembly’
The persons aggrieved have a legal remedy and anybody can avail of it.
January 2015: Thin ice: BCI forces bar exam takers to waive RTI rights & pay BCI’s costs if losing legal challenge
Jaising’s response
Jaising responded to Mishra diplomatically yesterday via Twitter, with the following:
Mr Manan, as you are well aware there can be no independent judiciary without an Independent Bar , The BCI must lead in ensuring that the independence of the of Bar is maintained at all costs
The Chairman BCI is also a friend , he knows that lawyers collective was the first to challenge the entry of foreign lawyers , a battle which he brought to successful conclusion, I appeal to him to consider social inclusion in to the judiciary and not attribute motives to me
I’ve neither attributed motives nor questioned the integrity of the judges. I have pointed to their social background. I appeal to the Chairman BCI to request the Supreme Court to appoint SC /ST judges & more women. “Nothing about us without us” is the guarantee of equality .
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Dislike? Not at all. But I think it's necessary to remind people from time to time what his antecedents and MO are, rather than just accepting this bizarre Trump-esque reality at the BCI.
Mishra turning the BCI into some clumsy political tool would be very tragic, if it wasn't also hilarious and the BCI was not already near rock-bottom in terms of credibility...
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