Nobody Dares To Question President Or Secretary: SCBA EC Member Senior Advocate Shobha Gupta Writes Open Letter Criticising Its Functioning

Gupta, who says she became a Senior Executive Member of the SCBA after being “virtually pressurized” into filing her nomination, writes that despite hopes of a strong and effective committee, “that remained a dream only.”

Describing the reality inside the EC, she writes, “Most of the EC members were rendered absolutely redundant…The Sub-Committees were formed by the Secretary and the Vice President without any consultation with rest of the EC… approval of EC [became] a completely futile exercise.”

In her letter, the she has asserted that the EC operated under an environment where members feared speaking up, “Nobody would want or rather dare to question the President or the Secretary,” she says, adding that giving an alternative opinion “is considered as opposing an individual and begins the lobbying, etc.”

As a result, she writes, dissenting members were sidelined and even punished, “The members of EC who would show their concern on the process… would become an eyesore, would be sidelined in all activities… Petty things, like denying participation in bar activities, not at all sending or sending at the 24th hour the invites issued by even Supreme Court… would be done with you.”

Gupta squarely questions the leadership’s approach, saying that after repeated attempts by a group of EC members to engage constructively, there was still no change. She writes, “We sent mails and representations from time to time to the President, but for no response and no reactions. In fact, issues raised under signature of 8 EC members, were never addressed or put up before the EC meetings till date despite reminders.”

She has asserted in the letter, “In this almost 1 year span of EC 2024, we could know nothing about how and why the decisions were being taken. We were left with no choice but to either mutely agree in the EC on the decisions taken by the Secretary with or without the knowledge and approval of the President and the vice president or feel humiliated for raising our voice asking for an informed democratic procedure to be adopted. Most of us clearly had no role, value, existence or worth in the EC functioning than only to sign the minutes whenever if at all asked for, or to merely attend the functions minus any job responsibility.”

She recalls a specific instance where EC members appealed directly to the President, “We… told him that we want to work in harmony and you being head of the EC, please play that pivotal role… but we saw no change of situation even after that.”

According to Gupta, President Kapil Sibal, Vice President, and Secretary would often “leave the meeting in between” when objections were raised. Decisions were allegedly taken without proper process, including a move to hire 39 additional SCBA staff, something most EC members had “no clue” about.

“Though in view of the serious objections… the Secretary said he would withdraw this circular, but in no time… he issued a revised circular to fill up 39 posts,” she writes, describing how even that decision was attempted to be passed by circulation to bypass the EC.

She writes that much of the dysfunction stemmed from the unchecked power and financial control held by a few, adding, “If all these areas which involve so much money… are taken out from the hands of the Association… no non-serious lawyer would even think of getting into these elections.”

Despite her frustrations, Gupta says she was urged not to resign early in the term, in the hope that things would improve, however, it did not, and she says that a timely election to replace the present the current EC with another one seems to be the only reprieve.

She concludes the letter by writing, “We choose our office bearers to represent us and to take care of our best interest… The purpose of these Bar Associations should be to serve the members of the Bar and the litigants… not to get into self-serving activities…Choosing a wrong candidate or letting a wrong candidate win the election, is seriously irreversible decision.”

In February this year, eleven members of the Executive Committee, including Senior Advocate Shobha Gupta, had written to its President Kapil Sibal, calling upon him to call a meeting of the Executive Committee within seven days.

In August last year, the members of the EC, Senior Advocate Shobha Gupta, had written to Sibal after a resolution on the letterhead of the SCBA was put out, signed by Sibal, regarding the incident at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The EC Members have alleged that the purported resolution was not even placed before the EC. Sibal was then appearing for the State of West Bengal in a suo motu case initiated by the Apex Court on the same incident.

Click here to read/download Letter