Friday 13 December’s Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) elections have been stayed by the Supreme Court, according to a number of advocates with knowledge of the development.
Justice RM Lodha made the order today for the election to be stayed until a committee has had a chance to look into the one-bar-one-vote proposal, which would have disqualified previous voters from voting in the elections.
A committee, which includes Arvind Nigam, Ashok Bhan and VP Singh are to draw up a new roll of candidates after asking them for declarations that he or she have not contested or voted in any other bar or tribunal elections in 2013, according to an advocate with knowledge of the matter.
Former Delhi Bar Association president Rajiv Khosla, who was disabled from filing his presidential candidature for the DHCBA polls this time due to amended election rules, had challenged the amendments in the Delhi high court and had asked for a stay on the new rules.
After he appealed to a division bench against Delhi HC justice Vipin Sanghi’s refusal to grant the requested stay, the division bench had remanded the matter back to Sanghi for fresh consideration last week. However Khosla chose to approach the Supreme Court in appeal against the Delhi HC order, and today at 2:30pm SC justice Lodha stayed the 13 December polls.
[Read full Legally India story on the dispute]
Story to be updated
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The election will now be held under the old rules.
The three man committee (Arvind Nigam, Ashok Bhan, and Maninder Singh) will not "look into" the one bar one vote proposal.
However by a consent order the ensuing election will apply this principle by disqualifying anyone who has contested or voted in any other bar association elections in 2013.
The three man committee will merely draw up a new electoral list and conduct elections before the end of February 2014 in accordance with the principle stated in the consent order.
The issue of new rules and whether one bar one vote will continue to apply will be considered by the General Body after elections.
All issues arising in the original suits will be decided within a period of one year.
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