Supreme Court to examine quality of deliberation in Delhi High Court bar body meet on women quota

Supreme Court said it would like to watch the video of the general body meeting of Delhi High Court Bar Association to see the "quality and kind" of deliberations held on the issue of women reservation in the bar body.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would like to watch the video of the general body meeting of Delhi High Court Bar Association to see the "quality and kind" of deliberations held on the issue of women reservation in the bar body.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan on Wednesday said the court would like to see whether the proposal for reserving five posts for women in the 15-member executive body of the Delhi High Court Bar Association moved in pursuance of its September 26 order was rejected after due deliberations and thorough reasoning.

"The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) are among the leading bars in the country of which several legal luminaries are and have been part of. It is a platform of legal luminaries whose thoughts, values and philosophy is being followed all over the country.

"They must have deliberated upon the constitutional ethos and gender equality while examining the proposal on women reservation," the bench said.

It said DHCBA comprises cream of legal luminaries and reflects the cosmopolitan culture of the bar.

"We want to see how they discussed the constitutional ethos and issue of women reservation at the time when even Parliament has passed the law," the bench said and posted the matter for hearing on November 18.

At the outset, senior advocate Meenakshi Arora informed the court that pursuant to the order of the court, the general body meeting was held and a proposal was also moved but it was rejected. She said the bar body is even justifying the rejection of the proposal.

The bench asked senior advocate Mohit Mathur, who is the president of DHCBA, about the date of election. He replied that polling is likely to be held on December 13.

The bench further enquired about video recording of the general body meeting. Mathur replied that it was done.

"On Monday, we will watch the proceedings of the general body meeting on the big screen here. We want to see the quality and kind of deliberations that had taken place on the issue," the bench said.

The top court was dealing with a plea seeking 33 per cent reservation of seats for women members in the DHCBA.

On September 26, the top court directed the DHCBA to have the post of treasurer reserved for the women beside one other post in the five-member office bearer body of the association.

"The general body of the bar association shall consider to reserve the post of the treasurer exclusively for the women members of the bar association," the bench had directed.

It had added that in addition to reserving the post of treasurer for the women members of the bar association, the general body shall also be free to consider the desirability of reserving one more post of office bearer for women members of the bar association.

"Similarly, out of 10 executive members, there shall be at least three women members. The general body may also resolve that out of three women members of the executive committee, one at least will be a senior designated advocate," it had directed.

The top court had then directed the general body meeting to be held preferably in 10 days.

It had asked Mathur to even urge the bar bodies of the district courts to have similar arrangements in place.

The executive committee of the high court bar association has 15 members, including five office bearers. On May 2, in a significant order aimed at increasing the representation of women at the bar, the top court had directed that 33 per cent posts in the executive committee of the SCBA be reserved for women members.