A resolution moved by Bar Council of India (BCI) chairman Manan Kumar Mishra to restructure the PEARL-FIRST Trust — the body that has handled funds from the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) — has run into open opposition from within the Council itself.
Three BCI members, Senior Advocate Y.R. Sadasiva Reddy, Advocate Srinath Tripathi and Advocate N. Manoj Kumar, have objected to the proposed resolution, which would do away with permanent trustee positions and limit the role of Managing Trustee to sitting BCI members whose tenure would lapse the moment they leave the Council.
Rather than opposing the restructuring outright, the three members have asked for the underlying paperwork to be placed on record first: the Trust deed dated September 17, 2020, the minutes of the General Council meeting that authorised setting up PEARL-FIRST, and a full account of AIBE finances, including transfers between the BCI and the Trust. They have also sought details of appointments to the Indian Institute of Legal Education and Research, and of approvals — and any donations received — connected to Legal Education Centres run under the Trust's umbrella.
"We are not aware of the reason" why the permanent trustee provisions were included in the first place, the members said, pushing back on the chairman's suggestion that the Council should already know the answer.
The AIBE, which every enrolled advocate in India must clear to practise, generates substantial examination-fee revenue each cycle, and questions over how that money is held and spent have periodically surfaced at BCI meetings. The dispute over PEARL-FIRST adds to a run of governance friction at the apex regulator this year, including separate disputes over its approved list of law colleges and its disciplinary powers over law students.
The resolution remains pending, with the objecting members pressing for disclosure before any vote on restructuring the Trust.