A Division Bench of the Madras High Court has set aside an order passed by a single judge in June this year, making certain adverse remarks against the Madras Bar Association (MBA), besides directing it to pay a compensation of ₹5 lakh to advocate ‘Elephant’ G. Rajendran.
The single judge’s order was subsequently stayed in July.
On Monday, November 6, 2023, a Second Division Bench of Justices S. Vaidyanathan and K. Rajasekar allowed a writ appeal filed by MBA against the single judge’s verdict in which a question was raised as to whether the association, founded in 1865, was intended only for “an elite society of lawyers” and a direction was issued to admit members without discrimination.
Justice S.M. Subramaniam had passed the orders while disposing of a writ petition filed by Mr. Rajendran in 2012 accusing MBA of having fortified a public space, allotted to it inside the heritage building of the Madras High Court, by imposing several restrictions on its membership.
The petitioner had also claimed his lawyer son, R. Neil Rashan, a non member of MBA, was admonished by a senior member of the MBA for attempting to drink water from a filter at the association’s hall. Taking serious note of the submissions, Justice Subramaniam had ordered the payment of compensation.
