No Exemption from Election Fee for Shahdara Bar Polls: Delhi HC
In the ongoing proceedings concerning Bar Association elections across Delhi, the Delhi High Court has reiterated its directive requiring candidates contesting the Shahdara Bar Association elections to contribute ₹65,000 each toward election expenses.
The court dismissed a plea for exemption filed by three candidates, emphasizing that the contribution was necessary due to the Association's financial constraints and the need for a second round of elections.
A bench comprising Justice Prathiba M. Singh, Justice Navin Chawla, and Justice C. Hari Shankar had earlier scheduled elections for all Bar Associations, including the Delhi High Court Bar Association and district court associations, on 21st March 2025. While elections were successfully held in most associations, polls at the Saket and Shahdara Bar Associations were postponed due to various circumstances.
Subsequently, on 7th April 2025, the court fixed 9th May 2025 as the new date for elections in these two Associations. While the Saket Bar Association elections proceeded smoothly, issues were raised concerning the Shahdara Bar Association elections. This prompted the Chairperson of its Election Committee, Justice Talwant Singh (Retd.), to submit a report highlighting logistical and financial challenges.
Acting on the report, the court on 8th May 2025 rescheduled the Shahdara Bar Association elections to 24th May 2025.
The report noted that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were initially unavailable but were later offered by Delhi University. The Chairperson had recommended using EVMs instead of paper ballots to reduce costs and simplify logistics.
Estimated expense for conducting the elections was pegged at ₹22–25 lakhs, while the Association's available funds stood at only ₹3 lakhs. Accordingly, the court accepted the Chairperson’s recommendation to require each of the 38 candidates contesting for six executive posts to contribute ₹65,000. The court clarified that candidates who failed to make the payment would not be allowed to contest.
Three candidates, Lekha Saroj Gautam, Vipin Kumar Sharma, and P.S. Tomar, subsequently moved an application seeking exemption from the mandatory contribution and urged that the elections be conducted via paper ballots as per Rule 5(ii) of the Bar Council of Delhi Rules, 1963. During the hearing, the applicants' counsel argued that the candidates had not consented to the earlier order and were not present during the 8th May hearing.
The court, however, noted that the 8th May directives were issued in open court in the presence - physical and virtual, of several candidates, and no objections were raised at that time. It also observed that most candidates had already deposited the required amount, reflecting general acceptance of the court’s directions.
In light of these findings, the court refused to interfere with its earlier order and held that any candidate unwilling to comply with the contribution requirement would be disqualified from the contest.
The application was dismissed, and the matter stood closed with no further directions.
For Applicants: Advocates Pradeep Kumar Yadav, Deepak Yadav, Anurag Jain, Sanjeev Kathuria, D.D. Pandey and Dharmendra Kumar Mishra
For Shahdara Bar Association: Advocates Lekha Suraj Gautam, Vipin K. Sharma, P.S. Tomar, Anshu Dawar and Chandrika Singh
For State: Standing Counsel Sanjay Lao with Advocates Priyam Aggarwal, Aryan Sachdeva and Abhinav Kr. Arya
For Bar Council of Delhi: Senior Advocate Aakarsh Srivastava with Advocates Anugya Gupta, Amit George, Dushyant Kishan Kaul, Ibansara Syiemlieh, T. Singhdev, Tanishq Srivastava, Abhijit Chakravarty, A. Hussain, Bhanu Gulati, Yamini Singh and Sourabh Kumar
Case Title: Lalit Sharma v Union (2025:DHC:3936-FB)