Ex-SC judge terms suspension of SCBA secretary as 'illegal'

Former apex court judge Justice P B Sawant has termed as "illegal" and "ethically atrocious" the suspension of lawyer Ashok Arora by the Executive Committee (EC) from the post of secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), the suspended Bar official said on Sunday. There has been an ongoing feud between SCBA President and senior advocate Dushyant Dave and Arora who was suspended from the post of SCBA Secretary by the EC of the bar body on May 8.

Two days after the suspension, a twist in the tale came when Bar Council of India, the apex bar body, took note of Arora's representation and stayed his suspension as SCBA secretary with immediate effect by terming it as "illegal, cavalier, undemocratic and autocratic". The BCI had directed Arora to convene a General Body Meeting of SCBA within two weeks after the lockdown is over and normal functioning of the Supreme Court starts.

Arora, who has written to 95-year-old former apex court judge Justice Sawant about SCBA and his suspension, on Sunday shared the e-mail sent to him by the former judge. "The action taken against you (Arora) by the Executive Committee is not only illegal, but also immature and ethically atrocious. The Bar Council of India has given the correct advice to you and you should follow it. In the meanwhile, there is no reason for you to be distressed, because all the actions which are being taken by the President and the Executive during this interregnum will be illegal and the General Body Meeting can resolve accordingly," Justice Sawant said in his mail to Arora.

Arora also shared with media the response of former Bombay High Court judge Justice Kolse Patil opposing his suspension from the post of SCBA secretary. The differences between Arora and Dave had come out in the open recently leading to the suspension of Arora by the Executive Committee on May 8.

Dave had justified the May 8 decision of the executive committee of the SCBA to suspend its Secretary Arora with immediate effect in a meeting held through online conference, saying that the decision was not "motivated by any personal bias". The suspension had come after Arora had called an emergent general meeting (EGM) of the lawyers' body on May 11 to deliberate on agenda for removing Dave from the post of SCBA President. However, the meeting was later cancelled.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)