5-Phase Schedule for Bar Council Polls: Supreme Court Creates Powerful Oversight Panels

The Bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh issued the directions while also setting up High Powered Election Monitoring Committees (HPEMCs) at regional levels and a pan-India High Powered Supervisory Committee headed by a former Supreme Court judge.

The Court said the names of committee members will be notified in its written order. Elections, it clarified, will proceed under the committees’ direct supervision and no extension of time will be granted.

Under the revised plan, the State Bar Councils of Uttar Pradesh and Telangana will conclude elections by January 31, 2026. Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Tripura must complete polls by February 28. Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Karnataka and Gujarat will finish by March 15. Meghalaya, Manipur and Maharashtra are slated for completion by March 31, and Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Himachal Pradesh and Assam by April 30.

The Court also set uniform timelines for each phase, beginning with publication of electoral rolls, invitation of objections, final voter lists, nomination filing, scrutiny, withdrawal, polling under the preferential voting system and counting under HPEMC supervision.

Acknowledging ongoing practical difficulties in verifying law degrees of thousands of registered advocates, the Court permitted those whose verification is pending to vote on a provisional basis, subject to “necessary consequences”. If a law degree is later found fake, not genuine or unrecognised, the individual will be barred from the electoral process.

The Bench noted that earlier verification exercises had exposed fake voters and even cases where individuals with criminal backgrounds had posed as lawyers. Emphasising that the verification mandate cannot stall elections, the Court said the process is akin to delimitation and cannot be used to delay polls.

To streamline verification, the Court directed all universities, deemed universities and law universities to deploy special teams, including senior law faculty, to verify degrees within one week of receipt. Verification fees must follow existing rules, and no additional charges may be imposed merely because of the Court’s timeline.

The High Powered Supervisory Committee will consist of a former Supreme Court judge, a former Chief Justice of a High Court and a senior advocate who does not contest Bar Council or Bar Association elections. Monitoring Committees will comprise former High Court judges. Any grievance against an HPEMC’s decision may be taken to the Supervisory Committee, whose orders will be final. No civil court or High Court may entertain challenges to its decisions.

The Court noted that elections have been overdue for several years, and reiterated its earlier direction that polls must not be pushed beyond the new schedule.