SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, April 18: The allotment of chambers to lawyers has opened a can of worms in the 115 years old Dhanbad Bar Association.
While the office bearers claimed to have allotted the chambers among lawyers following all Model guidelines of the State Bar Council, a section of advocates alleged that irregularities have been in the committee on a large scale. A senior lawyer has even filed a writ against it in court.
State Bar Council member and former Bar Association president Radheyshyam Goswami has alleged that only AGM is authorized to allot a chamber. Moreover, senior advocates have been overlooked. At the same time senior lawyers Kapildeo Singh and Dilip Chakraborty who stopped practice five years ago, have been allotted.
“ No criterion was followed in the allotment. More surprising the committee allotted the chambers when its tenure had been completed,” said advocate Goswami.
The Bar Association had issued a notice asking lawyers to deposit a demand draft of Rs 1 lakh for the chamber between March 16 to 18, 2023. Reportedly 83 lawyers deposited the demand draft for the chamber.
However, Bar Association president advocate Amrendra Sahay when contacted said that all rules and regulations were followed in the allotment of chambers. In the past too, chambers had been allotted only by the committee not the AGM. This time too, that was followed. “ If any lawyer has grievances he should go to the highest body i.e. State Bar Council rather than making false propaganda,” he said.
He further clarified that his committee’s tenure was completed on March 26, 2023 and all decisions were taken before it.
Jharkhand Adhiwakta Kalyan Sangh president and advocate Dhaneswar Mahto also expressed resentment over the process of chamber allotment. “I had put up three points before the committee. First I requested to give more time to lawyers for depositing the demand draft. The second request was to allot the chamber through a lottery and fixed two chambers for doctor and dispensary but all were turned down,” he said. He also said he had got a permanent posting of government doctors to attend the lawyers.
Advocate Md Zubair Alam while alleging irregularities in the allotment, said that it is a joke that Bihar –Jharkhand fame renowned lawyer Samar Srivastava has not been given the chamber.
One of the senior crime lawyers Md Javed has filed a writ in court demanding nullification of chamber allotment done by the outgoing committee of the Bar Association.
