The Delhi High Court accepted the Central Delhi Court Bar Association as the recognised bar body for the Rouse Avenue District Court in Delhi.
The court dismissed the claim of the Rouse Avenue Bar Association, Delhi Rouse Avenue Court Bar Association and Rouse Avenue District Court Bar Association which had all staked claim to be announced as the recognised bar association for the Rouse Avenue Court.
A division bench comprising Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Ravinder Dudeja said that merely because an association has been validly formed does not entail recognition as a court-annexed association or as a recognized association under the Advocates Welfare Fund Act.
The bench observed that the fundamental rights of all citizens to form an association as enshrined in Article 19(1)(c) of the Constitution does not include the right to be recognised as the bar association by a State Bar Council or by the Court for the purposes of availing benefits that flow from such recognition.
The Delhi High Court remarked that insofar as the fundamental right of all citizens to form an Association as enshrined in Article 19(1)(c) of the Constitution is concerned, there can be no dispute with the propositions that such Associations can be formed. Nonetheless, merely because an association has been validly formed does not ipso facto entail recognition as a Court annexed Association or as a recognized Association under the Advocates Welfare Fund Act, the court added.
The four associations namely Rouse Avenue Bar Association, Delhi Rouse Avenue Court Bar Association, Rouse Avenue District Court Bar Association and Central Delhi Court Bar Association had demanded that they be held as the bar association for the Rouse Avenue Court. The High Court considered the matter and underscored that the balance was in favour of the Central Delhi Court Bar Association since it was constituted by the Bar Council of Delhi.
The court further passed a slew of directions for the constitution of an ad hoc committee for the Central Delhi Court Bar Association, the membership drive of the association and its functioning. The bench noted that the first election of the Central Delhi Court Bar Association will be held on October 19, 2024 along with all the other bar associations in Delhi as mandated by the full bench of the Delhi High Court.