Chinmay Mohanty interim Bar Council head

Senior member of Odisha State Bar Council Chinmay Mohanty on Monday took oath as the interim chairman of the Bar Council, the apex body of advocates in the State, following an order passed by the Orissa High Court earlier on the day.

Delivering the verdict after an analogous hearing of two writ petitions, a Division Bench of the court headed by Chief Justice Vineet Saran ordered Mohanty to officiate as the interim chairman of the council until a full-fledged chairman is elected.

The post of the council’s chairman had fallen vacant since July 2017 when the incumbent Manas Mohapatra had put in his papers citing personal reasons. However due to the alleged noncooperation of some members, elections to fill up the casual vacancy were repeatedly stalled.

Due to the impasse, two council members Manas Ranjan Chand and Atma Prakash Mohanty had approached the High Court in two separate petitions seeking its intervention for smooth conduct of the chairman’s election.

Since the outgoing chairman Manas Mohapatra in his resignation letter had suggested Chinmay Mohanty to take charge and petitioner Atma Prakash Mohanty had made a fresh plea in court seeking a direction in the same light, the court allowed Chinmay to take charge as an interim measure.