A long fight for legitimacy by women lawyers in the Nilgiris has reached a turning point. The Madras High Court has struck down the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Bar Council’s refusal to recognise the Women Lawyers Association of Nilgiris (WLAN), calling the rejection an overreach.
Justices MS Ramesh and V Lakshminarayanan made it clear that if the association’s application is in proper form, recognition cannot be withheld. The judges noted that the Bar Council went far beyond its authority—launching a fact-finding mission and even consulting rival groups—when the law only requires a simple check of the association’s documents.
The ruling pointed out that the Bar Council’s insistence on limiting one bar association per area has no legal footing. In fact, multiple associations thrive across the state, including at the High Court itself. “The very basis of restricting recognition to a single association has no rational foundation,” the Bench observed.
WLAN, a registered society, came into the spotlight after raising concerns in 2022 about the lack of basic facilities for women lawyers in the new Udhagamandalam court complex. Their efforts even reached the Supreme Court, which stepped in to ensure access to toilets and workspaces.
When the women’s body sought recognition from the Bar Council in 2023, the application was rejected on the grounds that most women lawyers had chosen to remain with the Nilgiris District Bar Association (NDBA). The High Court, however, dismissed this reasoning as irrelevant and unnecessary under the Tamil Nadu Advocates Welfare Fund Act.
The judges directed the Bar Council to revisit WLAN’s application, restricting its scrutiny only to the essentials: by-laws, office bearers’ details, membership lists, and place of practice. If these are in place, recognition must follow within 15 days.
With this verdict, the Nilgiris women lawyers’ association has not only revived its quest for recognition but also set a precedent against arbitrary gatekeeping in the legal fraternity.
