Adish Aggarwala, president of the SCBA, informed the Delhi High Court that two months would be required to convene the meeting due to the necessity of notifying the approximately 20,000 members of the Bar organization.
Adish Aggarwala, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), assured the Delhi High Court on Thursday that a meeting of the general body will be arranged within two months to deliberate on the modification of SCBA regulations to ensure that women attorneys are granted a minimum of two Executive Committee positions.
Additionally, Adish Aggarwala, president of the SCBA, stated that two months would be required to convene the meeting due to the necessity of sending notice to the organization’s nearly 20,000 members.
As a result of this argument, Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain dismissed the petition filed by a female attorney today, which had requested the Court to order SCBA to arrange the aforementioned meeting.
Advocate Yogamaya MG presented the petition to the court, stating that she had previously corresponded with Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and the President of the SCBA, requesting that a SCBA general body meeting be convened to deliberate on the issue.
The letter urged the SCBA to consider amending its bylaws to guarantee at least two positions for female executive members and to nominate two individuals for the current Executive Committee.
However, neither a response nor an acknowledgment was obtained. In light of this, Yogamaya, an advocate, urged the High Court to order the SCBA to arrange a meeting.
The attorney argued in her petition that despite the participation of eleven women members in the 2023 election for the position of Executive Committee member, not a single one was elected.
The argument put forth was that the insufficient presence of female attorneys could potentially sustain an atmosphere in which concerns pertaining to sexual harassment go unaddressed.
The petitioner argued that women attorneys can make valuable contributions to the development and execution of policies and mechanisms aimed at preventing and rectifying sexual harassment in the legal profession when they are adequately represented. Furthermore, there was a contention that the inclusion of women’s insights and perspectives is crucial in order to formulate all-encompassing strategies that speak to the varied experiences of all constituents.
On February 21, Justice Subramonium Prasad recused himself from hearing the plea, citing his SCBA membership during his time as an attorney.
On behalf of counsel Bineesh Karat, Nandana Menon, and Anjitha Santosh, the petition was submitted. Sriram Parakkat, an attorney, represented the petitioner.
