Bibhuti Pandey. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, Sept. 9: Jharkhand State Bar Council chairman Bibhuti Pandey today tendered his resignation to vice-chairman Shiv Narayan Roy.

The resignation of the first chairman of the council, which was accepted, comes a day after Pandey had accused the high court of creating a divide in the Bar council. The comment had created a controversy.

Pandey had made the accusation at a certificate distribution function in Dhurwa on Saturday. Over 200 lawyers and members of the media were also present at the event. Training his guns on the higher judiciary, he had said that “a few sitting judges of the high court want the council to become defunct”.

Stating reasons for the resignation, Pandey said he had differences with some members of the council.

“I resigned after realising that some of the council members were unhappy with my style of functioning. I found them ganging up against me. They had brought a no-confidence motion against me. All these developments in the council hurt me and I resigned. I did not give them any opportunity to show their strength (in the confidence vote). After all it is the numbers game that matters in a democratic setup,” he said.

Bar council member Baban Lal said more than 50 per cent of his peers had brought a “no-confidence” motion against the chairman two months ago. “About 15 council members had alleged that Pandey was working in an autocratic manner. The council had fixed a meeting today to discuss the matter. But Pandey resigned before the discussion,” he said.

Sources said Pandey’s resignation was brought about by pressure from high court judges.

“The judges were unhappy with Pandey after he had sent a report on the relationship between lawyers and high court judges to the Bar Council of India and the Supreme Court. They mounted pressure on council members to teach Pandey a lesson and brought a no-confidence motion against the chairman,” said a source.

The resignation has paved the path for re-election of the council chairman.

“Pandey will continue to be a member of the Bar council. He will play his role in the election though he will not be a candidate,” Lal said, adding that the poll would take place soon.

The 25-member Bar council was formed in January 2006 after approximately 14,000 advocates from across the state chose the office-bearers. The panel’s term will come to an end in January 2011.