Jahanvi Agarwal
Recently, the Madras High Court passed an order whereby directing the Madras Bar Association (MBA) to pay ₹5 lakhs as compensation after a lawyer was prevented by another lawyer from drinking water from MBA’s office premises on the ground that the former was not a member of the MBA.
The complaint is based on an event in 2012 where senior advocate late PH Pandian is accused of denying Rajendran’s son, R Neil Rashan, a junior lawyer, access to drinking water at the MBA’s office premises.
The bench consisted of Justice SM Subramaniam, who commented on the incident as “despicable” and acknowledged the act of discrimination as a violation of constitutional protections since it may be interpreted as “untouchability.”
The judge stated that:
“that such discriminatory practices based on class within the legal community were impermissible within public premises and a violation of fundamental rights.”
The court also ordered the MBA to disperse membership application forms to all interested solicitors and to review all applications without regard to applicants’ socioeconomic background, religion, or other factors. These instructions were in addition to the compensation.
The judge also criticized the MBA for alleged elitism and made it clear that while exclusive clubs might be created based on “intelligible differentia,” such groups could not profit from public properties or taxpayer monies. The court emphasized that attorneys accessing the High Court’s grounds should have access to the associations of their choice and the amenities offered by public resources.
Although the MBA did not confirm the particular occurrence, it did state that it offered drinking water facilities to both members and non-members. The association asked the court to dismiss the matter, noting the tragic deaths of Senior Advocate Pandian and Rashan in unconnected car accidents.
However, Justice Subramaniam highlighted those social issues extended beyond the parties involved. The court ordered the MBA to pay Rajendran compensation in the sum of Rs. 5 lakhs since the issues raised in the case were critical to the administration of justice.
The court also directed the MBA to accept Senior Attorney A Mohandoss and Attorney S Mahaveer Shivaji’s membership petitions, which had been pending for some time. The MBA chose this option to calm suspicions about bias and elitism.
Case Name: Elephant G.Rajendran V. The Registrar-General
Diary Number: 22460/2012
Bench: Justice S.M. Subramaniam