Supreme Court directs reserving 33% seats for women lawyers in NGT Bar Association election

New Delhi: The Supreme Court directed on Monday that 33 per cent seats will be reserved for women lawyers in the election of the National Green Tribunal.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh said its order for reserving seats for women in the Delhi High Court Bar Association will be applicable to the NGT Bar Association as well.

"It is directed that the interim directions regarding earmarking the post of treasurer and some of the members of the executive committee, for women candidates in the high court/district bar associations of NCT of Delhi, shall apply mutatis mutandis to the NGT Bar Association also. The requisite procedure be followed and the reservation for the women candidates accordingly provided in the election of the NGT Bar Association as well," it ordered.

The bench, however, granted exemption to the lawyers from the requirement of giving an undertaking to the Bar Council of Delhi for being able to cast their votes in the NGT Bar Association election.

"The condition for requirement of enrolment with the Delhi Bar Council shall not apply in the case of NGT Bar Association for the reason that the said bar association comprises advocates registered with various bar councils throughout the country," it said.

The counsel appearing for one of the petitioners said the NGT principal bench in Delhi is for five states -- Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh -- besides Delhi, and lawyers from all these states appear before the tribunal.

He said it is being asked that lawyers wanting to vote in the NGT Bar Association election need to mandatorily give an undertaking that they are registered with the Bar Council of Delhi.

Senior advocate A D N Rao said the lawyer who has filed the petition has not given the undertaking like others have done.

He said the Delhi High Court is monitoring the election and the concept of declaration is to ensure "one bar, one vote".

"We are not concerned with where he is enrolled because in the NGT, everybody practises. People who have enrolled elsewhere and are practising in the NGT, they have given their declaration forms and those have been approved. He has not submitted the declaration form with the Bar Council of Delhi," Rao said.

The counsel for the petitioner said his client has not filled up the declaration form as it requires mentioning the Bar Council of Delhi enrolment number.

The bench observed that nobody can insist for the enrolment number of the Bar Council of Delhi for the NGT Bar Association election.

On December 18 last year, the top court had directed reserving three posts for women lawyers in the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) election.

It had also directed that in the district bar associations' elections, the post of treasurer plus 30 per cent of other executive committee posts shall stand reserved for women lawyers (including those already reserved for women).

On September 26 last year, the apex court directed the DHCBA to have the post of treasurer reserved for women, besides one other post in the five-member office-bearer body of the association.

"The general body of the bar association shall consider to reserve the post of the treasurer exclusively for the women members of the bar association," the bench had directed.

In addition to reserving the post of treasurer for women members, the general body should also be free to consider the desirability of reserving one more post of office-bearer for women members of the bar association, it had said.

"Similarly, out of the 10 executive members, there shall be at least three women members. The general body may also resolve that out of the three women members of the executive committee, one at least will be a senior designated advocate," the top court had directed previously.

On May 2 last year, in an order aimed at increasing the representation of women at the bar, the court had directed that 33 per cent posts in the executive committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) be reserved for women members. PTI MNL RC