BCI chairman faces calls to quit, co-chair demands inquiry

NEW DELHI: After facing brickbats from law students and also from Supreme Court for acting beyond jurisdiction in barring law graduates from Hyderabad's NALSAR University of Law from being registered as advocates, for which he later apologised, Bar Council of India chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra is now facing a revolt from within the council itself. Senior advocate and BCI co-chairperson Y R Sadasiva Reddy has sought his resignation, alleging financial irregularities during his tenure. Mishra, a BJP MP, however, termed the allegations a political stunt and vendetta.In a six-page letter addressed to the BCI chairperson, Reddy alleged diversion of funds and sought an independent audit of BCI accounts and of a trust named "BCI Trust PEARL - First" established during Mishra's tenure. Reddy also questioned the alleged diversion of Rs 150 crore of council funds to the trust controlled by the chairperson."Bar Council of India is not the personal estate of any individual... Every rupee it holds is held in trust. Every power it exercises is a power conferred by Parliament for the benefit of the Bar, and not for the benefit of the person who happens to occupy the Chair," Reddy said.Reddy also questioned the alleged diversion of Rs 150 crore of council funds to the trust controlled by the chairperson. “Bar Council of India is not the personal estate of any individual... Every rupee it holds is held in trust. Every power it exercises is a power conferred by Parliament for the benefit of the Bar, and not for the benefit of the person who happens to occupy the Chair,” Reddy said.BCI co-chairperson Y R Sadasiva Reddy claimed that law colleges approaching BCI for approval or renewal are being pressured to make ‘contributions’ to the said trust, with demands ranging from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 1 crore. “...I know of no provision of the Advocates Act, 1961 which permits the corpus of a statutory regulator to be transferred to a private trust registered by its own chairperson,” the letter said.Reddy, who has been a member of BCI for past eight-and-a-half years, told Mishra, “You have held that office continuously since 2012... This is without precedent. When elections to the office fall due, the arrangements are so managed that the outcome is a foregone conclusion. An elected office that has one occupant for 14 years has ceased, in any real sense, to be an elected office. I hold no personal animosity towards you... This Council will not recover while you remain in the Chair... The Bar of this country deserves better than what it is presently receiving from its own Council. I ask you to allow it that opportunity.”Mishra rejected the allegations and said there was no merit in them. Though he said that Reddy was not co-chairman, the website of BCI itself says so.Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.