IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CWJC No.17137 of 2010 1. Taxation Bar Association, Bihar, Patna through General Secretary, Lalit Mohan Prasad, S/o Late Jai Mangal Sahay, Annexy Revenue Building, Birchand Patel Path, Patna. 2. Lalit Mohan Prasad, S/o Late Jai Mangal Sahay, R/o Ashok Nagar, Road No. 1B, Kankarbagh, Patna-20. …… Petitioners. Versus 1. The Bihar State Bar Council through Officiating Secretary, Bar Council Bhawan, Patna High Court Campus, Patna. 2. The Chairman, Bihar State Bar Council, Bar Council Bhawan, Patna High Court Campus, Patna. 3. The Chief Manager, State Bank of India, Boring Road Branch, Alankar Palace, Patna. 4. The Returning Officer, Taxation Bar Association, Bihar, Patna(Newly formed). …… Respondents. For the petitioners : Mr. Krishna Mohan Mishra, Advocate. Mr. Mihir Kumar Mishra, Advocate. For the Bihar State Bar Council : Mr. R.K.Sharma, Sr. Advocate. Mr. Shantanu Kumar, Advocate. For Respondent no. 4 : Mr. Subodh Kumar Jha, Advocate. ----------- 2. 29-10-2010 1. I.A. No. 9144 of 2010 has been filed on behalf of the petitioners for adding Returning Officer, Taxation Bar Association, Bihar, Patna as Respondent no. 4 and also for restraining Bihar State Bar Council to conduct election of the Taxation Bar Association, Bihar, Patna during the pendency of this writ petition. So far as the first part of the prayer made in the interlocutory application is concerned, the same is allowed and the returning Officer, Taxation Bar Association, Bihar, Patna is directed to be added as Respondent No. 4. 2. Furthermore, since all the parties to the writ petition have appeared and this case is being finally heard for deciding the matter at this stage, there is no occasion to pass any order with respect to the second prayer of injunction made - 2 - in the said interlocutory application against the respondents. 3. Heard learned counsel for the petitioners, learned counsel for the Bihar State Bar Council and its authorities as well as learned counsel for the newly added Returning Officer, Taxation Bar Association, Bihar, Patna. 4. This writ petition has been filed by the petitioners challenging order dated 13.09.2010 (Annexure-8) by which the Bihar State Bar Council declared the election of the petitioners’ Executive Committee of the Taxation Bar Association as invalid and in its place formed an Ad-hoc Committee to look into the day-to-day affairs of the Association and also to hold election of a new Executive Committee of the Association and for other ancillary reliefs. 5. Learned counsel for the petitioners vehemently challenges the impugned order of the Bihar State Bar Council on the ground that it had no authority to pass such orders as holding of election was the matter of the General Body of the Association and the petitioners’ Executive Committee was the legally and newly elected Committee of the Association, which was functioning in accordance with law and hence there was no occasion for the authority concerned to pass the impugned order. 6. It is not in dispute that the erstwhile Executive Committee of the Taxation Bar Association, Bihar, Patna was elected in January, 2007 in which petitioner no. 2 was the General Secretary of the Executive Committee. - 3 - However, the claim of the petitioner is that on 25.06.2009 again election was held by the then Executive Committee, information of which was given to the Bihar State Bar Council, Patna on 25.06.2009. (Annexure-1 to I.A. No. 9144/2010) and thereafter the said newly elected Executive Committee is functioning. 7. The law is well settled in this regard as Rule 15 of the Union Rules for Bar/Advocates’/Lawyers’ Association of the State of Bihar (commonly known as Model Rules ) specifically provides that “the terms of the office bearers and the members of the Executive Committee, shall be two years from the date of election. The existing office bearers and members of the Executive Committee shall continue to hold office until completion of period of two years from the date of their election. After expiration of the terms the Executive Committee shall cease to function and the President shall assume charge of the Committee and shall take steps to hold the election within a period of one month of his so assumption of charge and if the President fails to election during the period he shall become functus officio and the Chairman of the Bar Council would make interim arrangements for two months and get the election of the office bearers completed within that period or period extended by the Bar Council.” The explanation to the aforesaid Rule clearly states that the cut off date of election of the office bearer/bearers is the 24th January of the year. 8. Admittedly, the Executive Committee of the Taxation Bar Association, Bihar, Patna was elected in the - 4 - year 2007 and hence its term ended on 24th January, 2009 whereafter the Executive Committee ceased to function and the President of that Executive Committee was to assume charge of the Committee and to take steps to hold election within a period of one month. The said procedure of law not having been followed the Bihar State Bar Council acted in accordance with the provision of law and constituted an Ad-hoc Committee for holding election as per the aforesaid rules and the election is going to be held tomorrow. In the said circumstances, no illegality is found in the impugned orders of the Bihar State Bar Council. 9. So far as the petitioners are concerned, they have failed to produce any documents to show that the General Body of the Association had ever taken any decision for conducting election for the Executive Committee of the Taxation Bar Association, Bihar, Patna in the year 2009 rather it was the erstwhile Executive Committee itself which had ceased to function from 24.01.2009 had claimed that it had itself held election and the office bearers were elected on 25.06.2009 as per Annexure-1 of the interlocutory application. This cannot be held to be legal and proper as after 24th January, 2009 the erstwhile Executive Committee and its office bearers had ceased to function and they had no authority at all to hold any such election of the Association and hence, the Bihar State Bar Council rightly ignored it and passed the impugned orders. 10. The Executive Members of the erstwhile - 5 - Executive Committee of the Association were themselves lawyers and hence they were supposed to know the specific provisions of law in that regard and they were not expected to act against the specific provisions of law in such manner only for the lust of holding some office for a period longer than the law prescribed. 11. In the aforesaid facts and circumstances of this case, this court does not find any merit in this writ petition, which is accordingly dismissed. Sujit (S.N. Hussain, J.)