Disapproving of the management of the Bar Council of India (BCI), its Co-Chairman and Senior Advocate Y.R. Sadasiva Reddy has formally demanded the rapid resignation of Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra.
In a six-page letter addressed to Mr. Mishra himself on August 22, Reddy has made grave allegations such because the diversion of Rs. 150 crores of Council funds to a non-public belief managed by the Chairman, and the appointment of relations to key positions with none clear course of. The co-chairman has additionally identified the very current controversy concerning the issuance of a communication towards the graduating batch of NALSAR College of Regulation.
“…This Council has drifted very removed from that commonplace…. I name upon you, within the plainest phrases, to tender your resignation from the workplace of Chairman… forthwith”, Reddy writes within the letter.
In gentle of the allegations, Mr. Reddy has known as for Mr. Mishra to tender his resignation inside 15 days.
Reddy, who has served alongside Mr. Mishra on the Council for a decade, has outlined a number of grounds for the resignation demand.
Reddy alleges that the Bar Council of India Belief was intentionally allowed to fall into disuse. As an alternative, a brand new belief, ‘BCI Belief PEARL – First’ was registered on September 17, 2020, with trustees handpicked by Chairman Mishra.
Subsequently, a decision was moved to switch an quantity to the tune of Rs. 150 crores of the BCI’s funds, comprising contributions from advocates throughout the nation to this belief, the letter provides.
“…I do know of no provision of the Advocates Act, 1961 which allows the corpus of a statutory regulator to be transferred to a non-public belief registered by its personal Chairman”, Mr. Reddy states, including that no member of the Council has seen a replica of the Belief Deed.
The letter additional alleges that legislation schools approaching the BCI for approval or renewal are being pressured to make ‘contributions’ to the mentioned belief, with calls for starting from Rs. 25 lakhs to Rs. 1 crore.
“…If that is correct- and I’ve acquired nothing out of your workplace to point that it’s not-… it’s a matter of the utmost gravity. The ability of approval and renewal underneath the Advocates Act is a regulatory energy. It’s not a licence to lift funds”, the letter reads.
Reddy has identified that an enormous proportion of the workers employed by the Council are individuals linked to Mr. Mishra personally, together with members of his household. Reddy additional claims that no file of commercials, choice committees, or advantage lists justifying these appointments has been positioned earlier than the Council.
The letter particularly condemns the path issued on August 13, 2026, from the Chairman’s workplace, directing State Bar Councils to not enrol the graduating batch of NALSAR College, Hyderabad. The directive was issued, Mr. Reddy claims, with none materials being positioned earlier than the Council or any decision authorizing it.
“…That single act… has accomplished extra injury to the standing of this Council than anything in its historical past”, Mr. Reddy asserts. The path, which was withdrawn inside hours following condemnation from the Supreme Court docket Bar Affiliation and the Supreme Court docket itself, was described by the letter as a ‘reprisal for having held an opinion’.
Mr. Reddy additionally accused the Chairman of sustaining factions inside State Bar Councils and famous that Mr. Mishra has occupied the publish repeatedly since 2012, a tenure of 14 years, regardless of the time period of the workplace being solely two years.
“…An elected workplace that has one occupant for fourteen years has ceased, in any actual sense, to be an elected workplace”, he remarked.
He has additionally demanded {that a} Particular Assembly of the BCI be convened to think about these issues, and has requested a particular audit of the accounts of each the Bar Council of India and ‘BCI Belief PEARL – First’ by an unbiased agency empanelled with the CAG. He has additional demanded that each one “contributions” from legislation schools be stopped
Mr. Reddy famous earlier than parting that younger advocates, Pupil Bar Councils of Nationwide Regulation Universities, and even members of Mr. Mishra’s personal bar affiliation in his house state have publicly known as for his departure.
“…When the regulator of a career is publicly repudiated by the career it regulates… the query of its chairman’s continuance is not a matter of private choice. It’s a query of institutional survival”, the letter concludes.
