Bar Council of Himachal Pradesh notifies election of 18 members; Two women to be co-opted under SC order
Shimla, July 8
The Bar Council of Himachal Pradesh has officially notified the election of 18 members to the State Bar Council following elections conducted earlier this year, with the process completed under the provisions of the Bar Council of Himachal Pradesh Election Rules.
According to a gazette notification issued by Bar Council Secretary Pushpa Thakur, polling for the elections was held on April 20, while the results were declared on May 20 by Returning Officer Justice VK Sharma (Retd.), former judge of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.
The notification said the election process and results were verified by an independent committee constituted pursuant to the directions of the Supreme Court. The committee comprised Justice J.R. Midha (Retd.) as Chairperson, Justice Satyen Vaidya (Retd.) as Member and J.K. Sharma (Retd.), former Registrar General of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, as Member.
The Bar Council further stated that, in compliance with the Supreme Court's order dated December 8, 2025, in Yogamaya M.G. vs Union of India and Others, two women advocates will be co-opted as members of the State Bar Council, in addition to the 18 elected members.
The elected members are Ajay Kochhar (Senior Advocate, Himachal Pradesh High Court), Amit Sharma (District Court, Chakkar, Shimla), Amit Vaid (Himachal Pradesh High Court), I.N. Mehta (Senior Advocate, Himachal Pradesh High Court), Narendra Guleria (District Court, Mandi), Rajiv Kumar Rai (Himachal Pradesh High Court), Ranjna Patial (Civil Court, Dehra, Kangra), Ritu Singh (Himachal Pradesh High Court), Sandeep Kumar (Civil Courts, Paonta Sahib), Sanjeev Bhushan (Senior Advocate, Himachal Pradesh High Court), Sanjeev K. Suri (Himachal Pradesh High Court), Shivani Sharma (District Courts, Kullu), Suchitra Thakur (Himachal Pradesh High Court), Tarun Pathak (Himachal Pradesh High Court), Vikas Rathore (Himachal Pradesh High Court), Vikrant Chandel (Himachal Pradesh High Court), Vipin Pandit (District Courts, Solan) and Virbahadur Verma (Himachal Pradesh High Court).
With the notification, the newly elected members will constitute the elected body of the Bar Council of Himachal Pradesh, while two additional women members will be inducted through the co-option process in accordance with the Supreme Court's directions.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Election process seems transparent with retired judges overseeing it. But why only co-opt two women? Should have been more proportional representation. Supreme Court should have mandated at least 33% reservation for women in all bar councils across India.
Senior advocates dominating again - Ajay Kochhar, I.N. Mehta, Sanjeev Bhushan are familiar names. Good mix of district court and high court lawyers though. Let's hope the new council focuses on improving infrastructure for lawyers in smaller towns like Dehra and Paonta Sahib.
Finally! Representation for women in the Bar Council is long overdue. It's 2025 and we're still co-opting instead of electing? But at least SC intervened. Kudos to the women advocates like Ranjna Patial and Shivani Sharma who got elected directly. Hope the co-opted members also get meaningful roles. 😊
Bar Council elections always have their share of drama. At least this time the process was verified by an independent committee. But one has to wonder - why are we still using expensive gazette notifications in 2025? Could easily publish this on a government website and save trees. 🌳
Interesting to see how the Indian legal system handles representation. In the UK, the Bar Standards Board has a different structure. The co-option of two women seems like a stopgap - but at least it's a step forward. Let's see if they get substantive roles or just token representation.
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