HC questions whether Madras Bar Association is intended for an ‘elite society of lawyers’

Questioning whether the Madras Bar Association, founded in 1865, was intended for an “elite society of lawyers,” the Madras High Court on Thursday directed the association to distribute applications for membership to all interested practising lawyers in the High Court, and admit them as members without discriminating on the basis of caste, gender, religion, economic status and personal as well as political affiliations. Further, on being told that the MBA was the only bar association to enjoy the privilege of functioning within the high security zone of the High Court, the judge said it was for the Registrar General to take a call on shifting the association from the high security zone under Central Industrial Security Force cover to a building outside the zone, after placing all facts before Chief Justice S.V. The judge made it clear that all Bar associations functioning on the High Court premises must obtain a prior permission from the Registrar General for conducting celebrations, functions, birthday parties and lunch parties among others. When two lawyers — A. Mohandoss and Mahaveer Shivaji — got impleaded in the 2012 writ petition and complained that their membership applications were pending for years together, the judge directed MBA to admit them within a week.