The court held that the petitioner had established a good prima facie case that Rule 4 of the Bar Council of India Rules was ultra vires, as it was beyond the authority and competence of the Bar Council of India to impose conditions like Rule 4, which in terms was not a condition but created a disqualification not contemplated by the Advocates Act or Rule 2.

1. - The elections of the Bar Council of Rajasthan are under fame and fire in this petition, where several allegations have been made arising from the plant of invalidity of Rule 4 and going to the extent of allegation of rigging of the entire elections. The writ petition had been admitted by this Court on 7th of April, 1982 while counting of the votes were in progress, having counted on the same day. An interim stay order was granted restraining the Respondents from declaring the results of the election but permitting them to go ahead with the counting the votes.

2. The Bar Council of Rajasthan along with the Chairman of the Bar Council and the Secretary have filed the return and prayed that the ad interim stay order granted by this Court should be counted as that the process of the election can be completed and the results can be declared.

3. Prolonged arguments were heard and in view of the agency and importance of the matter, the arguments have been completed today on a non-working day, at the request of the learned Counsel for the parties.

4. The elections are taking place under the Advocates Act 1962 hereinafter called as the Act and the Rules framed thereunder.

5. The petitioner is an Advocate of this Court and is one of the contestant in this election. The entire election process except the counting of the votes was over by 20th of March, 1982 and the petition was filed on 5th of April 1982 when the final phase leading to declaration of the election result was commenced from 7th of April 1982.

6. The facts are not in dispute. The principal controversy raised in this writ petition centers ground the process of preparation of electoral rolls of the Bar Council Rule 4 by which Advocates who want to enroll as voters in the voters list are required to submit to the Bar Council a declaration mentioning information required in terms of Rule 2 in the prescribed form or form exactly similar there to and unless that is done his name can not be included in the electoral roll and he shall not be entitled to take part in election in question. The relevant Rule 4 Sub-rule (1) of the Bar Council of India Rules Part 3 Chapter I reads as under:

"4(1) In preparing the Electoral Roll, unless the State Bar Council concerned is already maintaining a list of Advocates who are entitled to be voters interm of Rule 2 of these Rules, at least 150 days before the date of election shall publish notice issued by the Secretary of the State Bar Council concerned in the prescribed Form in the Official Gazette and in two or more legal news papers, one English and the other of local language, as may be decided by the State Bar Council, asking each of the Advocate of the Roll of the concerned State Bar Council to intimate the State Bar Council within the time to be specified in the said notice or within such extended time as may be given , allowed by the State Bar Council for reasons to be recorded, as to whether he has incurred any disqualification mentioned in Rule 2 of these Rules (Rule 2 has to be quoted in the notice). By the said notice the Secretary shall also inform the Advocates concerned that unless information required by the said notice in question is received by the State Bar Council in the prescribed form or form exactly similar thereto, within the specified time or within the extended time as stated herein above his name shall not be included in the Electoral Roll and he shall not be entitled to take part in the election in question."

7. According to the ' petitioner the disqualifications for an Advocate which can result in preventing his name from being included in the electoral roll are given in Rule 2 of these Rules and Rule 3 is a mandate that the name of every Advocate entered in the State roll shall be entered in the electoral roll of the State Council. Mr. Lodha submitted that in view of this the substantive right of an Advocate who is eligible and not disqualified according to Rule 2 cannot be taken away by this procedural rider