The elections to the Bar Council of Kerala will be held on April 17, 2026, from 10 AM to 5 PM across various booths in the State..The development was informed through a notification issued by a High-Powered Election Committee appointed by the Supreme Court of India to oversee such electoral processes. As per the Election Notification dated February 13, 2026, the elections to the Bar Council of Kerala will be conducted for 23 seats with a mandatory 30 per cent quota for women to ensure their representation, following interim directions issued by the Supreme Court of India..The 23 elected seats will be distributed as follows:12 seats for advocates with at least 10 years’ standing on the State Roll; 6 seats for other advocates 5 of the elected seats will be reserved for women candidates in accordance with the 30 per cent reservation policy..The total strength of the Bar Council will remain 25 members, with 23 to be elected, while two to be co-opted by the Bar Council of India..The Committee has further clarified that a single common ballot paper will be used for the election, and there will be no separate ballot for women candidates..The election process is set to begin with the release of a provisional voters’ list on February 28, 2026. Voters will have time to raise corrections or objections until March 7, after which the final list will be published on March 14.Nomination forms will be issued from March 14 to March 16, with March 23 set as the deadline for filing. The final list of candidates will be published on March 26, 2026, after scrutiny and withdrawals. Counting of votes is scheduled to start on April 18. .It is also notified that candidates seeking to contest the election are required to pay a non-refundable nomination fee of ₹1.25 lakh, as confirmed by the Supreme Court in Bar Council of India v Prahlad Sharma & Ors..The elections are being held under the supervision of a court-appointed panel, constituted pursuant to the Supreme Court's order in M Vardhan v Union of India & Anr.The High-Powered Election Committee so appointed consists of retired Justice Rajiv Shakder, Senior Advocate E Om Prakash and Advocate Dr Amit George. All election-related grievances are to be addressed to the committee at hpec.bck@gmail.com.Any appeal against the High-Powered Election Committee's decision is to be made to the High-Powered Election Supervisory Committee, led by two former judges, Justice Subhanshu Dhulia and Justice Ravi Shanker Jha along with senior counsel V Giri, at sec.supervisorycommitee@gmail.com.Justice VG Arun, former judge of the Kerala High Court, has been appointed as the returning officer to oversee the election process, in accordance with the directions of the Supreme Court of India..In a separate notification, the Committee has released a revised preliminary voters’ list and asked advocates to submit corrections, additions, or requests for a change of polling booth through designated online forms by February 26, 2026.Bar Associations have also been directed to verify the list and report the names of deceased members or those who have stopped practising, to help ensure the electoral roll remains accurate..See revised preliminary voters’ list: Here..[Read Notification].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.
