Kerala High Court Issues Notice On Plea Challenging Kollam Bar Association Election Result

The Kerala High Court has recently issued notice on a petition challenging the results of the election to the Board of Directors of the Kollam Bar Association.

Notably, the Bar Association has 9 directors, who are elected from 9 constituencies.

When the petition came up for hearing on Thursday (July 31), Justice N. Nagaresh admitted the same and issued notice by special messenger. The case is now posted on August 08.

The petition was filed by Dheeraj Ravi, practicing advocate and former President of the aforesaid bar association, stating that various irregularities occurred during the election held on 05.07.2025. The petitioner was a candidate from Constituency No. 3, who was initially tied with the winning candidate, but lost by one vote during recount.

According to the petition, the Kollam Bar Association is registered as a non-trading company and is governed by the Kerala Non-Trading Companies Act, 1961. Therefore, the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 are applicable to the affairs of the bar association, resulting in a bar on jurisdiction of civil courts as per Section 430. Thus, the petitioner has approached the High Court for a remedy.

The petition states that when there was a tie in Constituency No. 3, the Returning Officer distributed ballot bundles to various volunteers instead of personally supervising the recount. The tabulation sheet was reused and overwritten by another advocate of the bar association, vitiating the transparency and sanctity of the process, it is alleged.

Additionally, the petition alleges other procedural violations, including impersonation of voters, absence of a signed voters register, failure to verify voter identity and lack of audit trail of voting. The petition also alleges that the outgoing board members circulated messages favouring a panel of nine handpicked candidates, influencing the neutrality of the process.

Though the petitioner had submitted a request before the Returning officer to keep the ballots sealed till a proper recounting was done, there was no response, following which the petitioner issued a detailed requisition. However, it was not considered.

The petitioner has prayed the High Court to quash the results of the election to the Kollam Bar Association. He has also prayed that a fresh election to Constituency No. 3 be conducted after ensuring proper safeguards and under the supervision of an Advocate Commissioner appointed by the Court.

Further, the plea seeks a prayer for directions to frame formalised election rules and to declare that the Election Commission's Guidelines and Model Code of Conduct shall apply in the meantime.

The petition is moved by Advocates Akhil Suresh, Kalliyani Krishna B., Amrith M.J., Anita Elizebeth Babu and Rahul T.

Case Title: Dheeraj Ravi v. Bar Council of Kerala and Ors.

Case No: WP(C) 28082/2025