Madhya Pradesh High Court Stays Rewa Bar Elections Over Lack Of Women Reservation

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has intervened to halt the upcoming elections of the District Bar Association, Rewa, after finding a clear breach of the Supreme Court’s mandate requiring adequate representation of women in bar bodies. 

The writ petition was filed by Jatindar Kaur, a woman advocate, challenging a notification dated March 7, 2026 issued by the District Advocates Association, Rewa. The petitioner argued that the election process failed to provide for 30 percent reservation for women candidates, in direct violation of binding directions issued by the Supreme Court through various orders passed in SLP(C) No.1404/2025 in Deeksha N. Amruthesh v. State of Karnataka.

Representing the petitioner, Advocate Ashish Singh Baghel highlighted that the absence of such reservation not only undermines the spirit of the Supreme Court’s directions but also perpetuates systemic exclusion of women from leadership roles in bar associations.

The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf, took note of a series of Supreme Court orders mandating that at least 30 percent of office bearers and executive members in all bar associations must be women. The High Court referred in particular to orders dated March 24, 2025, January 16, 2026, and March 13, 2026, wherein the Supreme Court had repeatedly emphasised the need for effective implementation of this reservation across all states and union territories.

During the hearing, Surya Nath Pandey, Chief Election Officer of the District Bar Association, Rewa, confirmed that no such reservation had been incorporated in the upcoming elections scheduled for March 25, 2026. The court was also presented with a list of candidates whose nominations had been accepted, revealing that women candidates constituted less than 10 percent of the total, far below the mandated threshold.

Taking a serious view of the matter, the court observed that the directions issued by the Supreme Court are not merely advisory but binding in nature, and any deviation would render the election process legally unsustainable.

In a categorical order, the court stated, “In view of the mandatory directions issued by the Supreme Court to ensure that there is 30% reservation of women in the Executive Committee as office bearers/executive members… we restrain the Bar Association from holding the election… till the next date of hearing.”

The High court further directed that notice be issued to the Bar Council of Madhya Pradesh and the District Judge, Rewa, seeking their response on the issue. The Chief Election Officer was also specifically instructed to defer the polling scheduled for the following day until further orders of the court, effectively putting the election process on hold.

The matter is now listed for further hearing on April 8, 2026.

Case Title: Jatindar Kaur v. Bar Council of MP Jabalpur and Others

Date of Order: March 24, 2026

Bench: Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf