100% reservation not permissible: Delhi High Court rejects appeal to reserve 6 BCD seats for junior lawyers

The Delhi High Court has dismissed an appeal seeking the reservation of 6 seats in the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) elections for lawyers with less than 10 years of experience.

A Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela held that such a move would amount to an impermissible complete reservation of all posts. 

23 members are elected to the BCD. Of these, 12 seats are reserved for advocates with more than 10 years of experience, while 5 seats are for women lawyers.

“In any event, the relief sought by the Appellant cannot be granted since a complete reservation for all the posts of BCD is not permissible. The 50% reservation for advocates with more than ten years of practice, as stipulated in Section 3(2)(b) of the Advocates Act, together with the 30% reservation for women advocates directed by the Supreme Court in Yogamaya MG v Union of India & Ors, must not be construed to imply that the remaining 20% positions are reserved for advocates with less than ten years of experience. Such an interpretation would lead to complete reservation for all posts, which is inconsistent with the provisions of the Advocates Act,” the Court said. 

It agreed with the single judge’s ruling that the appellant did not possess a vested right to seek reservation of the remaining seats for advocates with less than ten years’ experience. This is not permissible within the framework of the Advocates Act or the Constitution of India, the Court said.

The appellant, Advocate Ramesh Chandra Singh, enrolled with the BCD in 2022 and contested the elections held in February 2026. He stated that as per the BCD election notification for 23 members, 12 seats were reserved for advocates with at least 10 years of practice and 5 seats for women candidates.

He contended that the remaining 6 seats should be reserved for advocates with less than 10 years of practice. He stated that non-reservation of seats for such advocates violates their right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution of India.

However, the single judge rejected the plea, holding that merely because reservation has been made for advocates with more than 10 years’ experience and women advocates, it does not create any vested right in favour of advocates with less than 10 years’ experience. 

The Division Bench has now upheld the order. 

Advocate Ramesh Chandra Singh appeared in person. 

Advocates Preetpal Singh, Tanupreet Kaur, Medha Sharma, Simran Kumar, Pooja and Gaurav appeared for the Bar Council of India. 

[Read Judgment]