A Division Bench of Justices Sanjeev Sachdeva and Ravinder Dudeja said that merely because an association has been validly formed does not entail recognition as a court-annexed association or as a recognized association under the Advocates Welfare Fund Act.
The held that the fundamental rights of all citizens to form an association as enshrined in Article 19(1)(c) of the Constitution of India does not include the right to be recognised as bar association by a State Bar Council or by the Court for the purposes of availing benefits that flow from such recognition.
“Insofar as the fundamental right of all citizens to form an Association as enshrined in Article 19(1)(c) of the Constitution is concerned, there can be no dispute with the propositions that such Associations can be formed… However, merely because an Association has been validly formed does not ipso facto entail recognition as a Court annexed Association or as a recognized Association under the Advocates Welfare Fund Act,” the Court said.
Source: Barandbench
