New Delhi [India], August 22 (ANI): Bar Council of India (BCI) Chairman and BJP MP Manan Kumar Mishra has responded to allegations raised by BCI member and senior advocate YR Sadasiva Reddy, who has demanded Mishra’s resignation and sought an independent inquiry into the functioning of the statutory body.
Responding to the allegations and a letter written by Reddy, Mishra said he was an elected representative and not a nominated member of the BCI.
“I am an elected representative. I was neither selected nor nominated to the Bar Council of India. It is a statutory body established under the Advocates Act. Over 2.5 million lawyers across the country are voters in this system,” Mishra said.
On Reddy’s claim of being the BCI Co-Chairman, Mishra said, “First of all, I must clarify that he is not a Co-Chairman of the Bar Council of India. Rather, today, he is not even a member of the State Bar Council. Number two, it’s a democratic body. People are elected.”
Mishra alleged that Reddy’s criticism was politically motivated and said there was internal and party politics within the organisation.
“There are groups, and there is internal politics as well as party politics. He belongs to another political party and normally supports Congress members. Therefore, it’s all a political vendetta and a political stunt,” Mishra said.
He further alleged that Reddy had remained silent during his earlier tenure as a BCI member.
“He has been a member of the Bar Council of India for the last eight and a half years. But throughout those eight and a half years, he has never opened his mouth,” Mishra said.
Responding to allegations concerning a trust, Mishra said Reddy himself was a trustee of the organisation.
“Now he is talking about a trust of which he himself is a trustee. Therefore, these baseless allegations levelled by Mr Reddy have no meaning at all. He has no concern with the Bar Council of India today,” Mishra said.
“The Bar Council of India is still a very strong institution, and it will be a very strong institution in the future as well. Therefore, whatever a man like Reddy or ABCD may say, it has no value at all,” he added.
Mishra also explained the process through which the BCI Chairman is elected.
“First, they elect their representatives to the State Bar Council. The representatives from all State Bar Councils then elect their representatives to the Bar Council of India, and collectively, these representatives from all states elect the Chairman and Vice-Chairman,” he said.
On his long tenure as BCI Chairman, Mishra said, “This is my seventh term. I have been elected unopposed for the last six terms. Even today, more than two-thirds of the Bar Council members support me.”
He dismissed allegations concerning a trust and the appointment of relatives, saying there was no substance to the claims.
“If a handful of individuals are making baseless allegations, whether regarding a trust or the appointment of a relative, there is no substance to them. These unfounded claims are surfacing only now,” Mishra said.
On the functioning of the trust, Mishra said its operations were transparent and subject to annual audits.
“Regarding the trust, its entire functioning is completely transparent. The managing trustees include distinguished individuals–Bar Council members and senior advocates. Anyone is welcome to examine the accounts; the trust undergoes an annual audit. The audit report is incorporated into the budget, published, and made available in the public domain,” he said.
Mishra also criticised those making allegations against the BCI, alleging that some had no connection with the statutory body.
“These baseless allegations are being made by a few individuals–such as those from the CJP–who have no connection to the Bar Council. They have even gone so far as to call lawyers ‘legal cockroaches.’ This is deeply shameful for the legal fraternity, and the community of lawyers will never tolerate such baseless and frivolous remarks,” Mishra said.
“Manan Mishra will remain president as long as the country’s lawyers, the voters, want him to stay,” he added.
Meanwhile, senior advocate and BCI member YR Sadasiva Reddy has demanded Mishra’s resignation, alleging that the functioning of the statutory body has moved away from the principles of transparency and accountability.
In a letter dated August 22, 2026, addressed to Mishra, Reddy called for his resignation as Chairman and sought an independent inquiry into several issues raised by him.
Reddy said he was making the demand not as an adversary but as an elected BCI member and a member of the legal profession for more than three decades.
He said the BCI was a statutory body constituted under the Advocates Act, 1961, and that its powers and funds were held in trust for the benefit of the legal profession.
“It is my considered view, formed on the basis of what I have myself witnessed in the meetings of this Council, that under your Chairmanship the Council has drifted very far from that standard,” Reddy said in the letter.
One of the principal grounds cited by Reddy relates to appointments within the BCI establishment. He alleged that appointments had been made without a transparent recruitment process and claimed that a significant proportion of the staff comprised persons connected or related to members of the Council.
Reddy said he was unable to find in the records placed before the Council any advertisement, selection committee proceedings or comparative merit list justifying such appointments.
He said the issue was particularly concerning because the BCI exercises regulatory powers over the legal profession and handles funds contributed by advocates.
Reddy has also called for a special meeting of the BCI to consider the issues raised by him, with relevant records to be made available to every member in advance.
Among his other demands is a special audit of the accounts of the BCI and the BCI Trust Fund from the date of their registration. He has sought that the audit be conducted by an independent firm empanelled with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India and that the report be circulated to every Council member and made public.
Reddy has further sought an immediate direction that no contribution, donation or payment of any description be received from any law college, university or management by the Council or by any trust or body connected with it.
He has also demanded that the complete staff position referred to in his allegations regarding appointments be uploaded on the BCI’s website.
Reddy said he had no personal animosity towards Mishra and pointed out that he had served alongside him on the Council for about a decade. He said his demand was based on his assessment of the functioning of the institution during that period.
“There are able persons in this Council capable of restoring it,” Reddy said, adding that stepping down voluntarily would allow Mishra to take credit for facilitating such a transition.
The letter concludes with Reddy stating that the Bar of the country “deserves better” from its own Council and urging Mishra to allow an opportunity for the institution to be restored. (ANI)
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