New Delhi, Nov 10: The Supreme Court on Monday signaled that all state Bar Council elections will be conducted under the supervision of retired high court judges to ensure transparency and fairness.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi noted a “trust deficit” with both the Bar Council of India (BCI) and state bar councils. To address this, the court proposed an independent election panel headed by retired high court judges in each state.
Senior advocate and BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra said the body had no objections to the appointment of retired judges for overseeing the elections. Justice Kant remarked, “State Bar council or Bar association elections are the most difficult elections on earth,” urging Mishra to notify elections across states at the earliest. Mishra confirmed that elections for Punjab and Haryana Bar Councils would be notified on Monday, with dates for seven other states set to be announced later this week.
Senior advocate Madhavi Divan, representing an intervenor, raised concerns about repeated violations of court orders. She noted that while the Delhi Bar Council had notified election dates on October 9, the BCI dissolved the council the next day, creating confusion. The court clarified that the BCI cannot be excluded from the election process, but retired high court judges will be appointed locally to supervise and ensure fairness.
Earlier directives from the Supreme Court require the BCI to notify Punjab and Haryana Bar Council elections within 10 days and complete polls by December 31. Uttar Pradesh Bar Council elections must be held by January 31, 2026, with proper voter lists uploaded online. The court emphasized that verification of lawyers’ LLB certificates cannot be used as a reason to postpone elections.
The decision comes amid ongoing petitions challenging Rule 32 of the BCI Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules, 2015, which allow the BCI to extend the tenure of state Bar Council members beyond statutory limits under the Advocates Act, 1961.