The voter list for the Oudh Bar Association elections carries 5,108 names, and the Allahabad High Court now wants to know whether a Certificate of Practice can be reissued once an advocate changes the place of practice, and whether any deadline applies. The question has gone to the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh in a PIL on the elections.
Lucknow: Can an advocate’s Certificate and Place of Practice (CoP) be reissued to reflect a new place of practice and, if it can, is there a time limit? That is what the Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) has asked the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh to clarify [PIL by Girdhari Lal Yadav concerning the Oudh Bar Association elections].
The Bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Manjive Shukla also wanted to know whether the Bar Association in which an advocate votes, as mentioned in the CoP, can be changed and within what period. The matter is listed for October 22.
Where the certificate meets the voter list
The point arises in a Public Interest Litigation by Girdhari Lal Yadav on the coming elections of the Oudh Bar Association, the bar body at the Lucknow Bench. A CoP issued under the Bar Council’s rules records where an advocate practises and the Bar Association in which the advocate exercises the right to vote. Any change or reissue of the certificate therefore bears directly on the voter list.
Instructions to be taken, details to be furnished
Counsel for the Bar Council has been told to take instructions and inform the Court of the applicable rules and time limits, if there are any. Meanwhile, counsel was asked to provide details, as shown on the Council’s website, of the voters named in the list finalised by the Returning Officer for the coming elections.
The order records that the Returning Officer finalised a list of 5,108 members eligible to vote. The Returning Officer must hand the Bar Council’s counsel a copy bearing all 5,108 names, and details of any CoPs issued earlier and later changed or reissued are to be furnished on the next date of listing.
An earlier order on the same elections
The elections have been before the Court in a separate suo motu PIL on how the 2026 Oudh Bar Association elections are conducted. A different Bench barred candidates from pasting posters, stickers or banners in and around the High Court premises, from holding processions or distributing food inside the premises, and from distributing handbills within the compound or within 100 metres outside it. Violations, that order warned, could lead to debarment from the elections, a reference to the Bar Council, or contempt proceedings, and primary responsibility for free and fair elections was left with the Elders’ Committee.
What is still undecided
The Court has not ruled on the point. Should a CoP be open to reissue to show a new place of practice or a different Bar Association, the make-up of the voter list for the Oudh Bar Association elections could change. The Bar Council’s answer on the rules and any time limit will shape the Court’s next step on October 22.
Case: PIL by Girdhari Lal Yadav concerning the Oudh Bar Association elections (case number not stated)
Bench: Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Manjive Shukla, Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench)
Next Listing: October 22, 2026