Meghalaya High Court Bar Association And Shillong Bar Association Expel Advocate General Over Submissions On Lack Of POSH Mechanism

The Meghalaya High Court Bar Association (HCBA) has expelled the Advocate General and Senior Advocate Amit Kumar after taking exception to his submission before the High Court regarding the alleged poor implementation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 [POSH Act]. 

The controversy arose in a petition filed by the HCBA seeking action against the alleged apprehension, assault, and public parading of an advocate accused of molesting a female intern. The accused advocate was allegedly apprehended from his chamber by members of the Hynniewtrep National Youth Foundation (HNYF). The said members of the HNFY allegedly gave interviews concerning the incident from within the police premises. 

On July 29, after the incident, a group of female advocates addressed an open letter to HCBA, calling for the implementation of the POSH Act and seeking several measures to ensure a safe and conducive workplace for women lawyers and interns. 

During the hearing of July 3, the HCBA submitted that despite having a statutory obligation to take action, the State Authorities have failed to file an FIR or take any measures against the men accused of assaulting and parading the advocate. 

Meanwhile, a senior women advocate also submitted that the Bar Association should take immediate action on their representation of July 29, 2026, to which the HCBA assured that appropriate steps would be taken. HCBA also informed the court that the advocate accused of molesting was suspended. 

At the subsequent hearing of August 3, the Advocate General informed the Court that an FIR had been registered and four persons had been arrested.

During the hearing, the Advocate General submitted that there was no proper mechanism functioning with Bar Associations for dealing with such complaints. 

In light of these developments, the division bench of Chief Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice W Diengdoh expanded the scope of the petition and impleaded the Bar Council of Meghalaya and the Bar Council of India to enable the authorities to respond to concerns of safety and dignity of practising women advocates and interns.

On the same day, the Senior Advocate Kaustav Paul, appearing for HCBA, wrote to the Advocate General seeking particulars of complaints alleged to have been made by women members of the Bar.

The Advocate General was subsequently informed of the Extraordinary General Meeting scheduled for August 5, 2026, to deliberate upon his submissions before the High Court. 

In response, the Advocate General stated that his submissions were not intended to target any particular member but aimed at highlighting concerns relating to the safety of women in the workplace. He stated that the State Council had formally concurred with the Bar Council of India's guidelines on sexual harassment in April 2024, but it remained unclear whether a functioning complaints committee had been constituted nearly two years later.

The letter further referred to the criminal antecedents of the accused advocate, noting that he was accused of similar acts in 2017, which resulted in the registration of an FIR and subsequent chargesheet. Therefore, he refused to furnish particulars of the complaints without the consent of the women concerned. 

Subsequently, the Advocate General was expelled from the HCBA and from the Shillong Bar Association. 

In the latest development, the Advocate General has written to the HCBA stating that his submissions were not directed against any individual or group within the bar and "purely an attempt to highlight an institutional lacunae in the matter of addressing Sexual Assault legitimate concerns and allegations by junior members of the Bar and law students".