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Wrap up Bar council polls by April 30, orders SC
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered an overhaul of long-delayed state bar council elections across the country, making it mandatory for all councils to complete polls in five phases ending April 30
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered an overhaul of long-delayed state bar council elections across the country, making it mandatory for all councils to complete polls in five phases ending April 30, and ruling that only those lawyers who have applied for verification of their law degrees will be eligible to vote.
In a significant intervention to clean up electoral delays and persistent concerns over fake degrees, a bench led by Chief Justice of India-designate Justice Surya Kant placed the entire exercise under the watch of high-powered committees headed by retired judges, with a national appellate panel whose decisions cannot be challenged before any high court.
The bench, also comprising justices Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh, fixed a strict nationwide schedule, directing that 16 State Bar Councils must conclude elections in Phase I by January 31; Phase II by February 28; Phase III by March 15; Phase IV by March 31; and the final phase by April 30.
Bihar’s process has concluded and counting in Chhattisgarh, already underway, must be completed within a month, the Court noted. Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Manipur, where elections are not due, remain outside this schedule.
Holding that delays spanning years had crippled the functioning of bar councils, the bench made it clear that no extension will be granted under any circumstance. To ensure oversight, it constituted high-powered election committees headed by retired high court judges for each region, tasked with supervising the conduct of polls and addressing grievances. Above them, the court has created a national high-powered supervisory committee, comprising a former Supreme Court judge, a former Chief Justice of a high court and a senior advocate who does not contest elections. Decisions of this appellate body, the bench underlined, will be final and immune from scrutiny by all civil courts and high courts.
Alongside the election timetable, the bench underscored the need to strengthen the verification of law degrees — an exercise repeatedly delayed by bar councils but essential, the court said, given the presence of fake entrants in the profession. However, verification cannot become a ground to stall elections. Drawing an analogy with delimitation exercises, the bench said verification must continue in parallel; any lawyer who has applied for verification will be permitted to vote, subject to consequences if the degree is later found fraudulent.
To expedite verification, all law universities and departments have been directed to depute special teams headed by senior faculty to authenticate degrees forwarded by state bar councils, and may charge fees as per rules.
The Court also laid down fixed timelines for each stage of the electoral process to prevent further drift. Counting will take place under the supervision of the high-powered committees. Where any step has already been completed, the supervisory bodies may dispense with requirements to avoid duplication.
Recording the Bar Council of India’s assurance of full cooperation, the bench opened a limited window for advocates who raised grievances during the hearing to approach the election committees now constituted. But it left no room for uncertainty: state bar council elections, some pending for nearly a decade, must now proceed on schedule and under judicially-mandated oversight, with the profession’s electoral rolls tied firmly to long-delayed degree verification.
