SC: Can’t stop Bar members from joining political parties

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain an advocate’s PIL, which sought directions to the Centre and the Bar Council of India (BCI) to debar people who were contesting elections of Bar bodies from joining a political party.

“In a democracy, there is always scope for different ideologies, but that should be in conformity with the Constitution. There is no law, which prohibits an active member of a political party to contest Bar elections. You want us to enact a law. Sorry, it can’t be done,” a Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said.

On behalf of petitioner Jaya Sukin, senior advocate Sirajuddin submitted if contesting candidates were allowed to be active members of political parties, they would push for their elections. However, the court asked, “If an office-bearer of the Bar has a political ideology, what’s wrong with that? You want to oust Mr Kapil Sibal as the president of the SC Bar Association? You want to oust Manan Kumar Mishra (Rajya Sabha member) as the BCI chairman?