Bar Council of India (BCI) co-chairman and senior advocate YR Sadasiva Reddy has demanded the immediate resignation of BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra, alleging irregularities in appointments to the Council, diversion of funds and a lack of transparency in its functioning.
In a letter dated August 22 addressed to Mishra, Reddy sought his resignation and called for an independent inquiry into the allegations. The demand comes amid the recent controversy over Mishra’s decision to refuse enrolment to the graduating batch of NALSAR University of Law following a row over the reported objection of students to having Chief Justice of India Surya Kant attend their convocation. He also demanded a special meeting of the BCI to consider the issues raised in the notice. Lawyer bodies subsequently demanded Mishra’s removal, while lawyers also held protests outside the BCI office. The Cockroach Janta Party had also joined the protests, seeking his resignation.
“I address this communication to you not as an adversary, but as an elected member of the Bar Council of India, presently holding the office of co-chairman, and as a member of this profession for over three decades,” Reddy said in the letter, shared by Live Law . He said he was writing after “long reflection” and felt that remaining silent would amount to a failure of the trust placed in him by advocates. “Appointments to the establishment of the Council made without any transparent process of recruitment,” Reddy said, listing it as the first ground for seeking Mishra’s resignation.
The powers exercised by the BCI are conferred by Parliament for the benefit of the legal profession and not for the benefit of the person occupying the chair, according to him. Reddy said there were capable people within the Council who could restore the institution and suggested that Mishra’s voluntary resignation was “the one course still open to you that would be to your credit.”
