The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought the response of the Bar Council of India (BCI) and all State Bar Councils on a plea seeking directions to ensure women’s reservation in the upcoming State Bar Council elections scheduled between January and April 2026 [Yogamaya MG v. Union of India & Ors].
The plea was filed in a pending petition that questions the ongoing under-representation of women in State Bar Councils.
The petitioner, advocate Yogamaya MG, requested immediate intervention of the Court on the grounds that under Section 8 of the Advocates Act, the results of the elections will determine the composition of these statutory bodies for the next five years.
"If the issue raised in the petition is not adjudicated before the completion of the ongoing election cycle, women advocates will be denied meaningful representation for yet another full term of five years, thereby defeating the object of the Petition and causing irreversible harm," said the application.
The Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notice to the BCI and all State Bar Councils and asked them to respond by December 1.
The plea was filed by placing the data published by Bar & Bench which recorded that only 9 of the 441 elected representatives across 18 State Bar Councils are women, amounting to 2.04 per cent. 11 Councils currently have no women members.
The petition also highlighted that no woman has ever been elected to the Bar Council of India since its establishment in 1961.
It was further submitted that the Court is currently considering another petition, Shehla Chaudhary v. Union of India, which prays a one-third reservation for women in Bar Councils. The Court had isuued a notice of this matter on November 7.
Yogamaya claimed that both cases present similar representation concerns and need to be decided before the 2026 election cycle is over.
According to the application, a uniform five-phase schedule for State Bar Council elections across sixteen States and Union Territories has already been approved by the Supreme Court. The elections in Uttar Pradesh and Telangana are scheduled to be concluded by January 31, 2026.
The petitioner contended that the current patterns of representation are likely to continue for the duration of the next term unless steps are taken to ensure women's participation before Phase I begins.
Yogamaya also contended that the Advocates Act incorporates a framework of proportional representation and that this framework must be interpreted in line with constitutional requirements of equality and non-discrimination.
In order to guarantee meaningful representation of women in all stages of the upcoming elections, the application said that directions should be issued to the BCI and all State Bar Councils to establish a system, such as reservation, minimum thresholds and other structural measures.
Senior Advocate Shobha Gupta and advocates Sriram Parakkat and Deepak Prakash appeared for the petitioner.