Former Madras High Court judges G.M. Akbar Ali and N. Mathivanan appointed as Returning Officers (ROs) for the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (BCTNP) elections has warned the candidates not to put up posters, banners and distribute pamphlets inside the court campus and warned the violators of imposition of penalty of up to ₹ 1 lakh.
“Kindly keep the court campus neat, clean and eco-friendly. “If any posters, banners or pamphlets are found strewn inside the court campus, it shall lead to imposing of penalty up to ₹1 lakh against the candidate whose canvassing materials are strewn inside the court campus and disciplinary action will also be initiated,” the Returning Officers said.
‘Bring back nobility’
In a separate letter addressed to the voters, Mr. Justice Ali made a fervent appeal to over 53,000 advocates across the State to vote according to their conscience since the election scheduled to be held on March 28 was “an election to bring back the nobility to the profession,” and it was like no other election which had been held so far.
“In a short period of serving as the Returning Officer for the election of members of BCTNP, I have heard the loud cry of electoral corruption and its avatars: Lunches, dinners, liquors, gifts of unimaginable items, tours to unimaginable places and the going rates of tickets to success.
“Whom do we blame, a few Tharithra Narayanans [a term used by acclaimed jurist V.R. Krishna Iyer] or a few who are also entitled to wear the robe of this noble profession by law but try to destroy its nobility... The evolution of the legal profession has reached a stage where certain advocates consider themselves above law.
“This is a dangerous trait which has to be eradicated for the good of the society,” the Returning Officer stressed.
