HC hands over Bar body chief’s charge to vice-president

The Punjab and Haryana high court has handed over the charge of president, Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association (PHHCBA), to vice-president Jasdev Singh Brar and joint secretary Parveen Dahiya.
The high court bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Anil Kshetarpal stayed the Bar Council of India (BCI) order of September 2024, whereby it had intervened in Bar Council Of Punjab and Haryana (BCPH) decision to temporarily remove the president, Vikas Malik.
The court passed the order as it felt that the orders passed by BCI prima facie suffered from “jurisdictional error”.
Malik was booked in a criminal case by Chandigarh Police on July 1 on the complaint of advocate Ranjit Singh, who had alleged that he was assaulted by a group, including Malik, at the Bar body office. Later, police added sections of SC/ST Act and murder bid in the FIR, and arrested him. He had secured bail in August.
Brar is among five petitioners who have sought probe into alleged bungling of Bar body funds.
The allegations of misappropriation of funds and complaints of sexual harassment are being probed by the BCPH. It was during these proceedings that BCPH had asked Malik to step down temporarily, before the order was stayed by BCI.