Plea in Supreme Court seeks reforms in BCI, flags unending tenure of Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra

A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking structural reforms in the functioning of the Bar Council of India (BCI), especially with respect to the tenure of its members, particularly the chairman.

The petition seeks reasonable limits on the tenure and number of terms of the chairman and other key office-bearers, a rational rotational mechanism ensuring representation from different States and regions, and stronger institutional, financial and regulatory accountability.

The petition has been filed by Advocate M Varadhan, who is represented by Advocates Sandeep Pandey and Rajesh Singh Chauhan.

Vardhan has challenged the proviso to Section 4(3) of the Advocates Act, which permits a member of the BCI to continue in office until his successor is elected. He has also sought a direction for prescribing a fixed tenure of 2 years for the positions of chairman and vice-chairman.

Further, the plea urges the Court to direct that no individual shall be eligible to hold the office of chairman or vice-chairman for more than 3 terms in his or her lifetime, whether consecutive or otherwise.

They should not be permitted, directly or indirectly, to circumvent such limitation by assuming the same or substantially similar authority through any alternate designation, interim arrangement, nomination, committee, re-election or other means, the plea adds.

The petitions comes on the heels of the controversy surrounding BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra's now-withdrawn decision to initiate action against law students of NALSAR Hyderabad's 2026 batch over their protest campaign against Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant.

The incident, according to the petition, raises serious concerns regarding institutional decision-making and the need for adequate checks on concentrated regulatory authority.

The petition states that while the present chairman has held office since November 2014, representatives from 20 of the 28 States have not held the post in the past 30 years, despite the BCI being a national regulator.

Thus, it seeks a rational, transparent and equitable rotational mechanism for the office of chairman to ensure that eligible representatives from different States and geographical regions of the country are afforded periodic opportunity to hold the office.

Elections alone cannot constitute meaningful democracy if the same individuals continue to dominate key offices, the plea has argued.

It adds that there must also be genuine opportunity for new representatives, new ideas and diverse regional perspectives to participate in the leadership of the apex body.