Institute of Legal and Management Studies

The Supreme Court on Thursday (May 22) said that any member of the Bar who has a grievance regarding irregularities in the recently held Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) elections can approach the Court with proper material.

A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice KV Viswanathan said it would examine any allegation of gross illegality, including impersonation of voters, if substantiated with evidence. The Court also ordered the preservation of CCTV footage in light of allegations of voter impersonation.

“Election Committee is directed to preserve the video cameras/CCTV recordings till further orders. Recording of the video cameras shall be kept in the custody of Senior Advocate Vijay Hansaria, Chairman of Committee”, the Court ordered.

SCBA President-elect Senior Advocate Vikas Singh raised concerns about the misuse of appearance and proximity cards by individuals entering the Supreme Court premises. He suggested that the Registry update the software to record both entry and exit times.

Justice Surya Kant said, “Let something come on record formally.” Addressing Senior Advocate Adish Aggarwala, Justice Kant said that had any grievance about the composition of the Election Committee been raised during the elections, the Court would have looked into it. He noted that all the names in the Election Committee had come from the Bar and not from the Court.

Advocate Kumud Lata Das submitted that one of the members of the Election Committee, Senior Advocate Mahalaxmi Pavani, had made public statements about the number of women candidates elected and had sent WhatsApp messages, which, according to Das, cast doubt on the fairness of the Election Committee. She said, “She could not have given personal views. She has been publicizing… Fairness is doubtful.”

Justice Kant responded that allegations must be supported by evidence and added, “If any Bar member has any complaint regarding gross illegality committed during elections, we ourselves will examine. No difficulty. But frustration due to outcome should not become…”

Aggarwala submitted that unauthorized people had voted while legitimate members were thrown out.

Justice Kant said, “You allege impersonation of voter, what's the proof? Please collect material, file an application. We will give chance, hold enquiry. Give us 10-20 examples.”

Justice Kant inquired whether the CCTV cameras were installed by the Bar or the Court. Aggarwala replied that they were installed by the Election Committee. The Court then directed that the CCTV recordings be preserved until further orders.

As the counting of votes for Junior Executive Members was still underway, Das submitted that there were not enough volunteers and that the Election Committee was rejecting volunteers for arbitrary reasons. Justice Kant said that candidates and their agents had the right to be present during the counting and that the Committee could request more members of the Bar to assist if needed.

Justice Viswanathan noted that no candidate had appeared before the Court with any grievance. Justice Kant said that if a candidate had a serious issue with the results once declared, the Court would be open to deploying Supreme Court staff.

Das suggested that members of the Election Committee should not be individuals who had contested or intended to contest elections. Justice Kant said this was a good suggestion and that the Election Committee must be completely impartial. He added that some senior advocates who have no interest in contesting in the future could be considered.

“Election Committee should be completely impartial, never intending to contest elections. There are some Learned Senior Advocates who might not be interested in contesting in future also, we can request them”, he said.

The Court directed that any suggestions regarding irregularities in the elections or electoral reforms be submitted to the Registrar of the Supreme Court.

“The candidates who are elected for the posts of office bearers and the Senior Executive Committee have been declared by the Election Committee. The counting for Junior Executive Member is going on. This is likely to be completed today. Meanwhile, some suggestions have come with respect to the irregularities noticed during the elections which need to be rectified by Registry of the Supreme Court. Let such suggestions be given to Registrar (Computerization). Similarly, other suggestions regarding reforms by members of the Bar may also be filed before next date”, the Court directed.

Case no. – Diary No. 13992/2023

Case Title – Supreme Court Bar Association v. BD Kaushik