Bar Council introduces one bar one vote rule

The Odisha State Bar Council today announced that the rule as pronounced by the Supreme Court will be implemented in all the 167 bars of the state, including that of the High Court.

The announcement comes at a time when a writ petition seeking introduction of 'one bar, one vote' rule for all lawyers in different bars is pending disposal in Orissa High Court.

The Odisha State Bar Council Chairman Chinmay Mohanty said the 'one bar, one vote' rule is part of a guideline set by the Supreme Court in 2015 to identify the number of genuine advocates practising in different courts of the country.

Though the rule allows multiple memberships of different bars, it gives only one voting right to an advocate, Mohanty said.

"All the bar associations of the state will be provided with their respective voters' list indicating the individual advocate's choice of bar to participate in the annual elections to form its executive body," he said.

Elections of all bars of the state will be held on a single day from next year, preferably on the third Saturday of March, he said.

Explaining the details of the procedure, senior member and former chairman of the council, Manas Mohapatra said, the present executive councils of all bars in the state shall officiate only up to October 2018.

"There will be no elections in any bar associations of the state from October this year till the next elections in March 2019 under the 'One Bar, One Vote' rule," he said.