Krishnamani defeats Singhvi to Succeed Parekh as SCBA President

New Delhi, May 6 (UNI) Senior Advocate M N Krishnamani has been elected Supreme Court Bar Association President in elections held yesterday, it was announced today.

He defeated senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi by more than 500 votes-- perhaps a record-- to succeed incumbent P H Parekh, a two term President who did not run. Under SCBA Rules, Parekh could seek a fresh term only after a gap of an year.

''Humanising the legal profession,'' was how Krishnamani described his agenda for the year ahead, adding this would include looking out for junior lawyers as well as the litigant public.

Asked how he intended to humanise the profession, Krishnamani spoke of encouraging better ethics through emphasis on such values as satya, dharma, prem, shanti and ahimsa-- truth, religion, love, peace and non-violence.

He also spoke of providing opportunities for younger lawyers, many of whom have a hard time making ends meet while veterans rake in vast amounts as fees.

As many as 2,200 Supreme Court lawyers voted to elect a 20-person team to represent their professional interests. The Association has 6,000 members, some 3,200 of whom form the electoral roll.

Elected Vice President was Senior Advocate Raj Birbal.

The others elected include K C Kaushik as Honorary Secretary, Sanjay Bansal as Assistant Secretary, Vikas Bansal as Treasurer, and Laxmi Shastri as Assistant Treasurer.

Also elected were six senior members and nine Executive Members.

SMs: Mahabir Singh, S C Maheshwari, B Sanyal, Ashok K Panda, R N Trivedi and J C Batra.

EMs: Jog Singh, Rohit Pandey, Priyanka Mathur, Bhakti Pasrija, V K Anand, Harpreet Singh Sandhu, Darshanand Gour, K P Bhargava and Suresh Kumari Daluja.

UNI MJ SY RN1816