Landmark judgment ensures gender representation in line with Supreme Court directives, introducing rotational reservations for key positions.
In a significant ruling, the Allahabad High Court has mandated the Oudh Bar Association at the High Court in Lucknow to enforce a 30% reservation for women in its Executive Committee and Governing Council, aligning with Supreme Court directives. The decision came as part of two Public Interest Litigations (PILs) filed by Divya Tripathi @ Divya Mishra and Mithlesh Srivastava, seeking effective implementation of gender representation in bar association leadership.
Presided over by Justices Rajan Roy and Manjive Shukla, the court underscored the necessity of implementing the Supreme Court's directive for gender equality within bar associations nationwide. The judgment highlights the rotational system to ensure representation in positions where the number of posts is less than three.
The court's order specifies the reservation of posts in the following manner: two out of six Junior Executive posts, two out of six Senior Executive posts, and one out of three Joint Secretary posts will be reserved for women starting in the 2026 elections. The post of Treasurer will also be reserved for women every third year, starting from 2026, with similar rotational reservations applied to other key positions like General Secretary, Vice Presidents, and President in subsequent years.
This landmark decision aims to enforce the Supreme Court's orders under Article 142 of the Constitution, which are binding on all bar associations. The judgment also mandates transparency in the election process, requiring candidates to disclose any pending criminal cases or FIRs, with potential disqualification for concealment or misrepresentation.
The judgment reflects a significant step towards gender equality in legal profession leadership roles, ensuring that women lawyers have substantial representation in decision-making positions within bar associations.
Bottom Line:
Representation of women advocates in Bar Associations - Ensuring 30% reservation for women lawyers in executive committees and governing councils of Bar Associations as mandated by Supreme Court orders - Implementation of rotational reservation for posts less than three in number.
Statutory provision(s):
- Article 142 of the Constitution of India
- Article 144 of the Constitution of India
