The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has ordered 30% reservation for women advocates in the governing/executive council of the Oudh Bar Association (OBA). The court said at least seven of the OBA’s 22 positions must be reserved for women.
A division bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Manjive Shukla passed the order on Friday on two public interest litigation petitions raising the issue of reservation for women advocates in the election of OBA office-bearers.
The court has reserved two out of six junior executive positions, two out of six senior executive positions, one out of three joint secretary positions, the treasurer’s position, and the senior vice president’s position (with 20 years of practice) for women for the 2026 election.
The general secretary’s position will be reserved for women in 2027, one of two vice presidents’ position with 10 years of practice in 2027, and the vice president’s position with less than 10 years of practice in 2028.
The president’s position will be reserved for women in 2028. After this, reservations will apply to these positions according to the established rotation. The court clarified that the arrangement is consistent with the Supreme Court’s directive requiring all bar associations to have at least 30% representation for women. If a female candidate is unavailable, the reserved position will be filled by nomination of a female candidate by the senior high court judge based in Lucknow, the court said.
The high court also directed that candidates contesting the OBA election must disclose any FIRs or criminal cases filed against them in their nomination papers. They must also state the status of the case. Concealing or providing false information may result in the cancellation of the candidacy or election, it said.
