Nagpur: Adding a twist to the High Court Bar Association (HCBA) election controversy, over 20 lawyers, who had signed on a representation that raised questions on the Election Committee members’ credibility, have retracted their stand.
Tendering their unconditional apology to the EC members, the lawyers said they signed on the blank paper in good faith and were unaware of the content in the representation signed by over 50 lawyers, including some leading ones.
Following this representation and a TOI report, the HCBA meeting held on Friday had witnessed high drama with the EC members putting down their papers.
Reaffirming their faith in the EC members, the lawyers said they were misguided by their friends to sign on the representation through which a section of lawyers strongly opposed plans to defer the March 12 polls due to sudden surge in Covid-19 cases.
Some of the EC members censured these lawyers, mostly youngsters, for blindly signing on the form despite being from the legal fraternity. While warning them to remain careful in future, the EC veterans advised them to thoroughly check the content before signing on any document, “as common citizens held them in high esteem”.
The veteran EC members had earlier strongly objected to the content of the representation that questioned their integrity and fairness in the election process. “Serious questions are being raised by a large number of HCBA members that certain EC members are hand-in-glove with some candidates. Consequently, their integrity and credibility have been put under the scanner,” it said.
Another paragraph in the representation stated that stalling elections on one count or other would also put HCBA to shame. “Many are casting aspersions and levelling allegations against the conduct of EC for acting in fanciful, whimsical and capricious manner. It needs to be dealt with immediate effect to quell any doubts being raised about the integrity and credibility. Otherwise, it would reflect HCBA in a bad light and also demean and derogate its sanctity,” it said.
After the controversy, the HCBA office bearers and senior lawyers appealed to the EC members to take back their resignations and continue their good work.
Earlier, many lawyers have protested against HCBA’s suggestion to EC for conducting e-voting in view of surge in Covid-19 cases in the city and standard operating protocols (SOPs) in place.