Supreme Court asks BCI to ensure State Bar Council elections are held by January 31, 2026

The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday urged the Bar Council of India (BCI) to take steps to ensure that State Bar Council elections are conducted by January 31, 2026, whether they take place simultaneously across States or in a phased manner [M Varadhan v. Union Of India and anr and connected matters]..A Bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and NK Singh also told the BCI to inform the Court if any State Bar Council shows reluctance to conduct its election by this date. This was after the BCI's counsel requested the Court to push the deadline for conducting the Bar Council elections to March 2026 instead of January 2026.The Court added that it may modify the timeline depending on the BCI's status report to be submitted to the Court by October 31. "Having regard to the fact that elections of State Bar Councils haven't been held for (years), we have impressed upon Senior Advocate Guru Krishnakumar, appearing for BCI, to ensure that elections of State Bar Councils are held, if not simultaneously, in a phased manner by 31st January, 2026. Senior Advocate Guru Krishnakumar requests Bench to extend the date to 3Ist of March. In the event of reluctance shown by any State Bar Council, the BCI is directed to submit a status report by 31st October 2025. In that event, we will consider as to what recourse ought to be resorted to in respect of that State Bar Council," the order said. .The Court was hearing a batch of petitions concerning various issues related to lawyers and the functioning of Bar Councils. Concerns were raised today that a deadline has to be fixed for State Bar Council elections. A counsel recounted that the Court had earlier sought the response of all State Bar Councils in the matter. However, only 14 out of 23 State Bar Councils entered appearance and very few of them filed their replies, the Court was told."Elections haven't been held for more than two years," the counsel added. BCI counsel, Senior Advocate Guru Krishnakumar, replied that the BCI has already written to State Bar Councils on the matter. "On 31st of July, BCI wrote to all Bar Councils of states to set out preparatory steps for conduct of Elections. 7–8 Bar Councils have responded," Krishnakumar said. The Court opined that if the elections are not held soon, it may have to appoint a court commission to oversee the process. "Conduct all elections of state Bar Councils (soon). Otherwise we will appoint a court commission. We will conduct the election and those who don't participate, we will dis-member them. Our intentions are very clear," Justice Kant said. The Court proceeded to direct that these elections should ideally be held by the end of January 2026.The Telangana Bar Council's counsel, however, urged the Court to at least consider pushing this deadline till February 2026. The Court was not inclined to accept this request. "Please start something. Frankly speaking, if you want to conduct it, you can do it within two weeks. After all legal community is the voters. They would be waiting to participate......31st January is a good time," the Court said. The Judge went on to note,"Had it been a case of a centralised body conducting all India elections, then things would have been different. Every State Bar Council is to conduct. They can start simultaneously.".Notably, a related plea seeking the reconstitution of the Karnataka State Bar Council (KSBC), instead of the ad-hoc Bar Council whose term has been extended from time to time by the BCI, was recently heard by the Karnataka High Court. The High Court, on September 22, was told that a final voter list will be circulated soon for the conduct of the elections. The High Court, however, refrained from fixing any date for the elections since the Supreme Court is hearing related matters. .[Live Coverage].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.