Authority: Madras High Court, Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan

Order Date: 07 August 2026

Case Overview

  • Petitioners: Newly elected members of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (e.g., K. Balu, M. Kannan, M. Velmurugan) and several practising advocates filed three writ petitions (W.P. No. 31323, 31456, 31501 of 2026) under Article 226 of the Constitution, challenging communications dated 16‑17‑27 July 2026 and an order dated 31 July 2026 issued by the Bar Council of India (BCI).
  • Respondents: The Chairman of the Bar Council of India, the Secretary of the Bar Council of India, the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry (represented by its Secretary), and the Advocate General of Tamil Nadu (ex‑officio member of the State Bar Council).
  • Core contentions: (i) The statutory term of the newly elected members began on notification in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette (Extraordinary No. 324, 24 July 2026), so any interim arrangement excluding them violated the Advocates Act, 1961. (ii) BCI’s circular dated 12 May 2026 permitted elected members to assume day‑to‑day functions immediately; the subsequent “limited interim arrangement” with unelected persons was arbitrary. (iii) Section 10(1)(b) of the Advocates Act reserves enrollment powers exclusively to the State Bar Council; requiring joint signatures by national office‑bearers usurped this jurisdiction. (iv) The court relied on a recent Kerala High Court decision (Prasad Chandran & Anr. v. Bar Council of India, W.P. (C) No. 25168 of 2026) which stayed a similar interim arrangement.
  • Developments before the court: The Administrative Committee of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry met on 04 August 2026, chaired by the Advocate General, and unanimously passed resolutions to convene Enrollment Committee meetings on 06‑07 August 2026 and to conduct enrollment functions for new entrants on 10 August 2026 and 12 August 2026. The Bar Council of India expressly endorsed this resolution, accepting the interim committee of elected members for managing enrollment and statutory affairs.

Final Outcome

  • The court held that the independently constituted Interim Committee of elected members, as per the 04 August 2026 resolution, shall exclusively manage the affairs and enrollment functions of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry until permanent statutory committees are constituted.
  • All three writ petitions are dismissed; no costs are awarded to either side.
  • All pending enrollment applications and administrative functions are to be processed by the Interim Committee of elected members.
  • The court declined to adjudicate broader questions on the supervisory powers of the Bar Council of India, leaving those issues open.

Topics: Bar Council Governance, Legal Procedure