Kulbhushan Bhardwaj has been elected president of the Gurugram District Bar Association after defeating Vinod Rao by 244 votes in a contest involving six candidates. Bhardwaj secured 1,834 votes, while Rao received 1,590 votes, according to Navbharat Times. A total of 4,963 votes were counted in the election.
Bhardwaj’s election is significant for the functioning of the district court because he has previously led protests against offering namaz in public places and participated in lawyer demonstrations over disputes involving judicial officers. His stated priorities as the new bar president are to improve relations between lawyers and judges and strengthen infrastructure at the court complex.
The election also marks a change in the social composition of the association’s leadership. The result has been viewed as ending the long-standing influence of the Yadav community in the bar association, the report said. The source did not provide further details about the association’s earlier leadership or the duration of that influence.
Bhardwaj has been associated for a long period with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and organisations linked to it, according to the report. People familiar with the election told the publication that these organisations supported his campaign and appealed to bar members to vote for him. The account did not include an on-record response from the organisations regarding the campaign.
Bhardwaj has also been involved in several contentious lawyer protests. In 2021, an FIR was registered against him over allegations that he took part in a rally in Sadar Bazar while carrying a sword on an excavator during protests against namaz in public places. The report also linked him to a lawyers’ protest over alleged mistreatment of judicial officer Rupam. Lawyers were accused during that episode of closing the court gate and obstructing judicial work.
The new leadership takes charge at a time when disagreements between lawyers and judges have repeatedly emerged at the Gurugram district court, according to the report. Such disputes can affect the routine functioning of courts, although the supplied account does not provide figures on adjournments, case backlogs or disruptions associated with them.
After his election, Bhardwaj said his priorities would include improving coordination between the bar and the bench, meeting the expectations of association members and strengthening facilities in the court complex. His comments place court infrastructure alongside institutional relations as an immediate responsibility for the new body.
Manish Shandilya, general secretary of the Gurugram Advocates Council and a senior bar member, said he hoped the new body would reduce the distance between lawyers and judges. He also stressed the need to take all members along without discrimination and to give due respect to the concerns of advocates. The new association body is expected to begin work on these priorities following the election.
