BCD elections: Supreme Court says counting of votes can continue, but no results without its permission

The Supreme Court on Thursday said that the counting of votes polled for the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) elections can continue, but the results may not be declared without its permission.

The direction was passed by the vacation bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice V Mohana in a special leave petition filed by Advocate Rudra Vikram Singh.

“List on reopening [of court]. Meanwhile it is directed that counting of votes shall continue but no result shall be declared till the permission of the court,” the Court stated.

On May 18, the Supreme Court had asked a special bench of the Delhi High Court to hear petitions alleging irregularities in the BCD elections. After concerns were raised that even tampered ballot papers were being counted, the top court had proceeded to stay the counting of ballot papers until the High Court gave its verdict in the matter.

In the judgment passed on June 6, a Division Bench of High Court Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Tejas Karia said that while the petitions alleging irregularities in the BCD elections and seeking repolling were maintainable, the Court is not ordering repolling.

It ruled that the entire BCD election does not warrant a fresh poll merely because certain manipulated ballot papers were identified during counting.

It added that no recounting of the first-preference ballot is required, as the alleged manipulation did not affect it. Therefore, the Court allowed the counting process to continue from where it was halted.

To ensure transparency, the Court ordered enhanced safeguards, including lockable storage for ballots, high-resolution cameras, continuous CCTV monitoring, live-streaming and stricter verification of counting staff.

27 allegedly manipulated ballots and other doubtful ballots will be separately examined by the Additional Solicitor General, whose decision will be final. The Court also mandated strict access controls and preservation of records, while reserving petitioners’ right to challenge the results through election petitions.

The Bar Council of Delhi elections were held in February this year, with retired Delhi High Court judge Justice Talwant Singh overseeing the polls as the returning officer.

However, the polls were marked by some controversy. 67 candidates, including 2 Senior Advocates, were placed under summary suspension on February 22 for large-scale violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and the Election Rules, 2023.

79 lawyers received suspension notices. However, on February 23, 63 such suspension notices were revoked after the affected candidates gave explanations.

Days later, the Bar Council of India placed a lawyer under interim suspension for misbehaving with Justice Singh. The suspended lawyer was alleged to have attempted to manhandle Justice Singh, instigated a crowd of lawyers and raised slogans against election machinery while the retired judge was inspecting an area on complaints of MCC violations.

Later, the BCD suspended former Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) President Rajiv Khosla and 9 other advocates from its rolls for allegedly “manhandling, pushing and abusing” the officials tasked with conducting the BCD elections. 

On May 2, Justice Singh sent a confidential letter to the Supreme Court regarding the Bar elections. Meanwhile, various petitions were also filed on alleged irregularities in the polls.

Senior advocate Priya Hingorani with advocates Rahul Sharma, S Santanam Swaminadhan, Aarthi Rajan, Kartik Malhotra, Abhilasha Shrawat, Aman Rawat, B S Jakhar, Garima Bharadwaj, Rajesh Mishra, Ramit Sehrawat, Vikram Jhakar and Anupriya Yadav appeared for BCD.