The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) that has been in the news for all the wrong reasons will be going in for elections on May 7. The elections that are held annually on the first Friday of May, will elect 21 representatives for the SCBA. There will be 6 office bearers, 6 Senior Advocates and 9 members from the junior bar who will be appointed to the SCBA.

The posts include those of the President, Vice President, two Secretaries and two Treasurers. Senior Advocates Ram Jethmalani and Raju Ramachandran are contesting for the post of the President of the SCBA. Advocates P.K. Jain, V. Shekhar and Rakesh Upadhayay are contesting for the post of the Vice President. The post of the Secretaries are hotly contested with nearly 13 lawyers filing their nominations.

There are nearly 8,500 members on the rolls of SCBA. However, this election will see only 3,300 members casting their votes since most of them have not paid their annual subscription fees, which is a mandatory condition for voting in the elections. The other reason is that the members who voted for any other bar elections on or after February 20, 2010 are not eligible to vote for the SCBA elections.

One of the contestants for the post of the Secretary, Shiv Suri, speaking to Bar & Bench said, “We are hoping that the newly elected members will change the damaged image of the SCBA. We will work towards providing better facilities, provide able administration and streamlining concerns of the bar members.”

There is a strict code of conduct for this time elections. No campaigning or political parties are involved in the SCBA elections. Delhi Bar Council elections that were held during the late last year, saw lawyers take up social networks to reach the voter. There were also allegations that the members spent in excess of Rs. 50 Lakh ($109,000) for the campaign.

With the Apex Court’s Bar Association going the way of the ballot, it is time the members demand better administration and a better image for itself to erase murky history.