Bar Associations are Not ‘State’ Under Article 12: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that a bar association is a private body and does not qualify as “State” or an instrumentality of the State under Article 12 of the Constitution. 

Consequently, the Court ruled that a writ of mandamus cannot be issued against a bar association under Article 226.

The ruling was delivered while dismissing an appeal arising from a dispute over the use of a lawyer’s chamber at the Patiala House Courts complex.

The Court added that the aggrieved advocate could approach the Bar Council or initiate appropriate criminal proceedings.

[Sangita Rai v. New Delhi Bar Association & Ors]