Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday directed the Awadh Bar Association to provide 30% reservation for women advocates in its executive council, holding that the Supreme Court’s directions on representation of women in bar associations are binding and should be implemented in letter and spirit.A division bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Manjive Shukla passed the order while disposing of two PILs seeking reservation for women lawyers in the Awadh Bar Association.The court said that the Awadh Bar Association’s executive council has 22 posts and to ensure 30% representation, at least seven posts have to be reserved for women.The bench specified the posts to be reserved and the rotation schedule. For the 2026 elections, two of the six junior executive posts, two of the six senior executive posts and one of the three joint secretary posts will be reserved for women. The treasurer’s post, already reserved for women for 2026, will again be reserved in 2029 and thereafter every three years.The bench also directed that the senior vice president’s post, for which 20 years of regular and active practice is required, be reserved for women in 2026, followed by 2029 and 2032. The post of president will be reserved for women in 2028, and subsequently in 2031 and 2034. Reservation for the remaining vice president posts was also prescribed through rotation.The court said that if a post reserved for a woman could not be filled because no eligible woman candidate was available, the senior judge of the Lucknow bench would nominate a woman advocate to the post. The directions will form part of the existing bye-laws of the Awadh Bar Association.
