The Supreme Court of India has permitted the announcement of the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) election results, contingent on the resolution of existing grievances in election tribunals. The decision was handed down by a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, alongside Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana. The court emphasized that any disputes regarding the election should be addressed to the dedicated election tribunals.
The bench urged these tribunals to expedite their proceedings, ideally concluding within three months. The court noted that it had received numerous petitions concerning irregularities in various state bar council elections. Since election tribunals, headed by former judges, were already in place to handle such issues, the court saw no reason to deviate from this process for the BCD elections. Therefore, the Supreme Court disposed of the petitions, allowing aggrieved parties to approach the election tribunals.
The court made it clear that while the BCD election results could be declared, they would remain subject to the outcomes of the pending disputes. Furthermore, the BCD was instructed to preserve all election records, and the Delhi Police was directed to safeguard original CCTV footage of the election process. Copies of this footage are to be made available to concerned parties for tribunal review.
Previously, the Supreme Court had allowed the vote counting for the BCD elections to proceed but prohibited the declaration of results without its consent due to allegations of irregularities. During the hearings, counsel presented claims of ballot tampering and excess voting. Senior Advocate Vikas Singh also highlighted that the BCD’s five-year term had extended to eight years and pressed for the declaration of results amid allegations of vote tampering.
The bench reiterated that such issues should be presented to the election tribunal, as the Supreme Court could not adjudicate these matters in its original jurisdiction. Earlier, the Supreme Court had tasked a special bench of the Delhi High Court with examining petitions regarding alleged irregularities in the BCD elections. The High Court found the petitions maintainable but did not find grounds for ordering a new election. It allowed the vote counting to continue, noting that alleged ballot paper manipulation did not impact first-preference votes.
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Following the High Court’s ruling, the case returned to the Supreme Court, which permitted the continuation of the counting but withheld permission for announcing the results. In response to broader state bar council election disputes, the Supreme Court established additional election tribunals headed by former judges. These include tribunals led by former Supreme Court Justices Deepak Gupta and Hima Kohli, with an existing tribunal under former Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia.
The tribunal led by Justice Gupta includes former Andhra Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Senior Advocate Mahalakshmi Pavani, while the tribunal headed by Justice Kohli incorporates former Jharkhand High Court Chief Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Senior Advocate Kaveeta Wadia.
