The Supreme Court on Friday introduced a range of sweeping reforms for the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA)'s composition and election framework. [SCBA v BD Kaushik]
Pertinent among its directions was to increase the tenure of elected office-bearers of the executive committee from 1 year to 2 years.
The change will come into effect from 2027.
The Court also introduced new eligibility norms and expanded representation by ordering that posts in the association, other than that of President, may be reserved for women advocates and advocates with disabilities.
The directions were passed by a Bench comprising of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice KV Viswanathan.
Laying down an extensive framework on voter eligibility, the Court held:
Women advocates with at least 50 appearances in the Supreme Court in the preceding two years would be eligible to vote.
Advocates with disabilities would require a minimum of five appearances in the same period to qualify.
At least 75% of appearances must be physical, with only 25% permitted to be virtual.
Virtual appearances must be separately recorded on the Supreme Court’s digital portal.
The portal is to be modified to enable distinct recording of virtual appearances.
The Court also clarified that eligibility cannot be determined solely on the basis of proximity card entries. Instead, the primary proof of appearances will be the record of proceedings (RoP) and reports obtained from the court registry, with proximity card data to be used only as corroborative material in cases of mismatch.
Further, the Court expanded the categories of eligible voters.
Advocates-on-Record (AORs) with an average of 20 filings per year over the preceding three years will qualify, while AORs with disabilities will require an average of five filings annually.
Non-AOR advocates who have served on the panel of mediators at the Supreme Court Mediation Centre for at least two years and handled 20 mediation cases in that period will also be eligible, with a reduced threshold of five cases for those with disabilities.
Veteran members holding SCBA membership for more than 25 years were also made eligible, subject to the condition that they must have voted at least once in the immediately preceding five years.
The Court emphasised that chamber allotment in the Supreme Court or being wait-listed for such allotment, would not constitute an eligibility criterion.
It ruled that use of a proximity card for a specified number of days or being on a Supreme Court panel would not independently determine eligibility.
It also said that, government counsel would not be subject to any separate minimum appearance requirement of 3 years.
Senior Advocates residing in the National Capital Region including Delhi and nearby areas such as Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad will also held to be eligible to vote under the revised norms.
On eligibility to contest elections, the Court directed that a member must have at least five years of permanent SCBA membership to stand for any post.
For key positions including president, vice-president, secretary and executive committee roles, candidates must have at least 10 years of regular appearances in the Supreme Court in the preceding 10 years.
To facilitate implementation of these directions, the Court ordered that the upcoming SCBA elections be deferred by one month from their earlier schedule. The elections are now scheduled to be held in August.
The present proceedings goes back to a 2012 Supreme Court judgment upholding an amendment to Rule 18 of the SCBA bye-laws, which restricted voting and contesting rights to advocates regularly practising before the Court, based on the principle of “one bar, one vote.”
In that judgment, the Court had noted concerns that non-regular practitioners were participating only during elections.
The issue resurfaced in 2023 after eight reform resolutions on membership, fees, and term limits were rejected at a Special General Body Meeting. A Bench of Justice (now CJI) Surya Kant and Justice KV Vishwanathan began actively intervening, noting that SCBA norms had remained unchanged for decades.
In February 2025, the Court constituted a committee headed by former judge L Nageswara Rao to suggest amendments to the SCBA’s election framework, particularly on voter and candidate eligibility. The committee received around 170 suggestions from members of the Bar, including suggestions from Senior Advocates like KK Venugopal, Ranjit Kumar and Kapil Sibal among others.
Even as this consultative process was underway, the 2025 SCBA elections were marred by allegations of irregularities, prompting further judicial intervention.
Against this backdrop, and alongside the committee’s recommendations, the Court has now issued detailed directions reshaping eligibility norms and the overall structure of SCBA governance.
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