New Delhi: Senior Advocate Mahalakshmi Pavani, a senior executive member of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), has written a letter to Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave, asking him to take moral responsibility for not being present at the flag hoisting and other ceremonies on Independence Day and step down from the post of the president of SCBA.
Mahalakshmi Pavani says in the letter that she has lost trust in Dave’s leadership and that Dave had let the Supreme Court Bar Association down by not giving any prior notice or reason for his absence to any of the Executive Committee members for his absence.
She says that Dave, completely betrayed their positive presumption of his presence among SCBA members as he was aware that the Chief Justice of India, the Law Minister, the Attorney General and the President of the Bar Association are required to be present on such austere occasions, especially on Independence Day.
According Pavani, Dave’s absence was intended and was very “disrespectful and repelling” as it not only embarrassed the SCBA, but also to the Chief Justice of India and the Law Minister and was therefore completely unprecedented and unpardonable.
Pavani says Dave’s move “caused anguish to all Executive Committee Members, the Chief Justice of India and the Union Law Minister, whereby he attempted to denigrate all and sundry by wilfully being absent,” as according to her, “being the leader and face of the SCBA and host of the event, it was his foremost duty to receive the Chief Justice of India and the Union Law Minister.”
She wrote: “Time and again, I have voiced my concern regarding this disconcerting, unyielding and non-leader like behaviour but it has done little so as to awaken you from your high-handed and narcissist slumber. You have always behaved in an autocratic manner, bereft of transparency, had trust issues with many executive members, wilfully suppressed the correspondence and circulars received from the registry.”
Pavani has also accused Dave of always humiliating, sidelining and ignoring her and never taking her feedback in the right sense and she did not resign only because she didn’t want to let down her colleagues who saw promise in her desire to serve them to the best of her ability.
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Pavani, has also asked Dave to stop portraying himself to be a Good Samaritan and rise above his minuscule prejudices, adding that even though she had immense respect for him, his every single non-consensual decision taken on behalf of the SCBA and deliberate absence on Independence Day, her respect for him has diminished completely.
Read the letter here;
Letter-seeking-resignation-Mr.-Dushyant-Dave-17.8.2020-2– India Legal Bureau