CHENNAI: Counting of votes polled for election of office-bearers to the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu & Puducherry, scheduled to be held on April 9, has been deferred indefinitely.
A decision to this effect was taken by returning officers (ROs) Justices G M Akbar Ali and T Mathivananan, both retired judges of the High Court, on Saturday.
"In view of the fact that the Bar Council of lndia (BCI) has assured that our representation dated April 3 shall be placed before its Election Tribunal No 1 for its decision in the next meeting and in view of the direction received from BCI dated April 6 and 7, we are not in a position to commence the counting on April 9," a communication from the ROs said on Saturday.
The ROs, however, assured the candidates that the ballot boxes were secured safely and the counting date will be intimated immediately after receipt of communication from Election Tribunal of the BCI in New Delhi.
Originally, the counting was fixed on April 7. But it was postponed by two days, ie on April 9.
According to the ROs, the BCI on April 3 had sent a communication stating that its Election Tribunal had granted permission to count the votes polled and fixed the date on April 9 by engaging a team of persons drawn from outside. Since the team from other states involved the issues of time and finance and also coming to know that the Bar Council of Kerala had been permitted by the BCI to appoint the counting team from their own State, the ROs decided to address the BCI Tribunal to permit them to engage a team of retired judicial officers of Tamil Nadu and a former Assembly secretary, who is an expert in counting the preferential votes.
As there was no immediate response, the ROs proceeded with the appointment of the team of retired judicial officers.
However, to their surprise on April 6, BCI Joint Secretary Ashok Kumar Pandey sent a communication referring to their letter dated April 3. He stated that the representation to engage the local team has to be dealt with by the Election Tribunal and the letter will be placed before it at its next meeting.
ln response to this letter, the ROs had immediately sent an e-mail to BCI secretary stating that since their representation was pending from April 3 without any response, they had proceeded with the appointment of local retired judicial officers. They also brought to the knowledge of the secretary that the Kerala Bar Council had also been granted permission to engage the team from its own State. The ROs had also assured to engage retired District Judges from neighbouring States along with local team. However, by a communication dated April 7 (Saturday), the BCI has reiterated that even the team from other States has to be approved by its tribunal. Hence, the counting is deferred, the ROs said.