``K R Giglani is alive. There has been some misunderstanding.'' Quite understandably, there were red faces all around, particularly those of Baroda Bar association members. And had it not been for the last-minute entry of Giglani's relative, the Bar would have passed the resolution and stayed away from work as a mark of respect to the `departed' soul.

On September 12, a local daily reported the death of advocate K R Giglani in Junagadh. The next day, as per the Bar association's constitution which requires it to condole advocates' deaths, the Bar was supposed to move a resolution to mourn Giglani.

However, in order to confirm the veracity of the report, the association president, Narendra Tiwari, send an association member to Junagadh, where he found Giglani's house locked. The member was told that the inmates were out of station as someone had died.

Assuming that it was the advocate himself who had died of cardiac arrest, the Bar finally decided on Wednesday that they would pass a resolution condoling Giglani's death. All advocates assembled for the meeting at Nyay Mandir and were waiting for the judges to join them when one of the relatives turned up at the venue and clarified that it was the advocate's elder brother who had passed away.

The Bar association had prepared a text of the resolution and had proposed to stay away from work. Though some advocates said the incident has put the Bar in an embarrassing spot, Tiwari maintained otherwise, claiming that the resolution had not been passed. ``We had just prepared the text of the resolution, and it was withdrawn when the relative turned up. Some vested interests are trying to make the issue controversial,'' he alleged.

``Only advocates had assembled and we were waiting for the judges when the death issue was clarified. So there is no question of misleading the judiciary,'' he defended.

Notwithstanding his assertion, some advocates claimed that the issue had brought disrepute to the association and were gunning for Tiwari's head. Sources in the association said the issue has brought into focus the rumblings within the Bar association. They added that the association secretary M Jhala had complained to the Bar council of Gujarat about the incident.

Tiwari, however, alleged that Jhala was acting at the behest of vested interests, and claimed that the Bar was thinking of debarring Jhala from membership. Jhala was not available for comment.