OPEN LETTER

To
Shri Manan Kumar Mishra
Chairman
Bar Council of India
New Delhi

Sir,

We Call Upon You to Resign as Chairman of the Bar Council of India

We, the undersigned advocates from across India, write this open letter with deep concern over the manner in which the Bar Council of India has been functioning under your prolonged chairmanship.

The Bar Council of India is the apex statutory body representing the legal profession. It must remain democratic, independent, politically neutral, and faithful to the Advocates Act, 1961. Unfortunately, your continuance as Chairman for more than fourteen years, coupled with the increasing concentration and personalisation of institutional authority, has seriously eroded confidence in the democratic functioning of the BCI.

Your election to the Rajya Sabha on the ticket of the Bharatiya Janata Party has imposed an even greater obligation upon you to maintain a clear separation between your political role and your statutory position. However, repeated political pronouncements made invoking the office of Chairman of the BCI have created a strong perception that the political neutrality expected of the institution has been compromised.

The recent NALSAR episode, in which an entire batch of law graduates was sought to be prevented from enrollment because of a protest involving some students, is a disturbing example of arbitrary exercise of authority and intolerance towards dissent. The subsequent withdrawal of the direction and apology cannot erase the seriousness of an action which threatened the professional future of an entire batch of young law graduates.

We are equally concerned by the increasing centralization of authority in the BCI, interference with the democratic functioning of State Bar Councils, attempts to place nominated or electorally defeated persons in positions of authority, and efforts to alter the strength and composition of State Bar Councils even after the declaration of election results. Such actions strike at the democratic right of advocates to elect their own representatives.

The continuing deterioration in standards of legal education and serious allegations concerning the regulatory, inspection, and approval processes of legal education centres also demand transparency, accountability, and independent scrutiny.

The Bar Council of India belongs to the advocates of India. It does not belong to any individual, government, or political party. An institution entrusted with protecting the independence of the Bar must itself remain independent, democratic, and free from political influence.

In these circumstances, we believe that your continuance as Chairman has become incompatible with the need to restore confidence, dignity, and democratic functioning in the Bar Council of India.

We, therefore, call upon you to resign forthwith from the office of Chairman, Bar Council of India.

Your resignation would enable the institution to begin the process of restoring its dignity, credibility, independence, autonomy, and democratic character and reaffirm the principle that statutory institutions of the legal profession must always remain accountable to the advocates whom they represent.

CLEAN UP BCI

RESTORE ITS DIGNITY, INDEPENDENCE, AND AUTONOMY

PROTECT THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION.