CUTTACK:  The Orissa High Court on Monday directed for holding elections to all Bar Associations simultaneously on the same day while rejecting a plea of the State Bar Council in this regard. A division bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice KS Jhaveri and Justice KR Mohapatra directed to implement the ‘one Bar one vote’ rule and conduct elections of all Bar Associations across the State on a single date as per the previous resolution. The bench has fixed April 29 as the next date of hearing on the case.

The ‘one Bar one vote’ rule is part of the guideline set up by the Supreme Court in 2015 to identify the number of genuine advocates practising in various courts across the country. Though the rule allows advocates a multitude of membership of various Bars, it gives them only one voting right.

In order to implement the rule, State Bar Council on February 24 had unanimously passed a resolution to hold elections to all the 167 affiliated bar associations across Odisha annually on the last Saturday of March every year. The date of elections this year was fixed on March 30.

However, the State Bar Council later decided to hold elections to bar associations in two phases. The decision was challenged in the High Court by Cuttack Bar Association on the ground that it violated the ‘one Bar one vote’ rule. Cuttack Bar body had sought the court’s intervention stating that implementation of the rule made it obligatory for holding elections to all associations on a single day.

The State Bar Council had clarified to the court that the decision to hold elections in two phases was taken as the term of selection varied from one association to another. While some hold their election annually, other associations conduct it every two years, the Bar Council said.