The Supreme Court on Friday introduced significant reforms to the constitution, electoral process and membership structure of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), including extending the tenure of the executive committee from one year to two years and revising the eligibility criteria for voting and contesting elections.
The directions were issued in the case of SCBA v BD Kaushik by a Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant and Justice KV Viswanathan. The revised tenure for elected office-bearers will come into force from 2027 onwards.
As part of the restructuring exercise, the Court also expanded the scope of representation within the Bar Association by directing that posts in the executive body, except that of the President, may be reserved for women advocates and advocates with disabilities.
The Bench laid down a detailed framework governing voter eligibility for SCBA elections. Under the revised norms, women advocates who have made at least 50 appearances before the Supreme Court during the preceding two years will be entitled to vote. Advocates with disabilities will be required to show a minimum of five appearances during the same period.
The Court further mandated that at least 75 per cent of appearances relied upon for eligibility purposes must be physical appearances before the Court, while virtual appearances can constitute only up to 25 per cent. It directed the Supreme Court administration to modify its digital portal to maintain separate records of virtual hearings and appearances.
Clarifying the evidentiary standards for determining appearances, the Court held that eligibility cannot be assessed solely on the basis of proximity card entries. Instead, the primary material for verification would be the official Record of Proceedings (RoP) and data maintained by the Supreme Court Registry. Proximity card records may only be used as corroborative evidence in case of discrepancies.
The Court also widened the categories of eligible voters by including Advocates-on-Record (AORs) who have maintained an average filing of 20 cases annually during the preceding three years. A reduced threshold of five filings per year was prescribed for AORs with disabilities.
Additionally, non-AOR advocates associated with the Supreme Court Mediation Centre will also qualify to vote if they have served as empanelled mediators for at least two years and handled a minimum of 20 mediation matters during that period. For advocates with disabilities, the requirement has been reduced to five mediation cases.
Senior members holding SCBA membership for more than 25 years were also granted voting rights, subject to the condition that they must have participated in at least one election during the immediately preceding five years.
The Court clarified that chamber allotment within the Supreme Court premises, inclusion in waiting lists for chamber allotment, use of proximity cards for a specified number of days or empanelment as government counsel would not independently determine electoral eligibility. It further held that government advocates would not be subjected to any separate requirement of minimum years of appearance before the Court.
Senior Advocates residing within the National Capital Region, including Delhi, Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad, were also recognised as eligible voters under the revised framework.
On the issue of contesting elections, the Bench directed that only members holding permanent SCBA membership for a minimum period of five years would be eligible to contest any post in the Association.
For key constitutional posts such as President, Vice-President, Secretary and Executive Committee positions, the Court prescribed an additional requirement of at least ten years of regular practice and appearances before the Supreme Court during the preceding decade.
To facilitate implementation of the revised electoral framework and necessary technological modifications, the Court ordered deferment of the forthcoming SCBA elections by one month. The elections, originally scheduled earlier, will now be conducted in August.
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