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A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi also directed the apex bar body Bar Council of India (BCI) to hold elections for the Uttar Pradesh Bar Council by January 31, 2026 and address the genuine and genuine grievances of the voters.
The top court gave this direction after it was pointed out that the Punjab and Haryana Bar Council elections have not been notified and the voter list in Uttar Pradesh is not being uploaded on the website.
Senior advocate Manan Kumar Mishra, who is also the Chairman of the Bar Council of India, said that as per the rules there should be a period of 180 days between the holding of elections and its notification and in the case of Punjab and Haryana they may face some difficulties.
Justice Kant asked Mishra to form a committee under the chairmanship of a retired high court judge to conduct Bar Council elections for various states.
Mishra submitted that this has been done and a panel headed by a retired High Court judge has been constituted.
The top court asked him to hold elections to the Punjab and Haryana Bar Council, adding that the BCI should appoint another panel headed by a retired high court judge.
The bench asked them to try to hold elections at least by December 31, 2025 and in case of any difficulty, it can be considered.
The bench told advocate Pradeep Yadav, “Bar Council elections were not held for a long time, but now the Bar Council of India has agreed to conduct elections. Let us cooperate in this and strengthen the democratic institution. We need to trust our democratic institutions in conducting fair elections.” Who had complained about the voter list not being uploaded on the website of Uttar Pradesh Bar Council.
Senior advocate Narendra Hooda said that as per the rules, the present institution of the Bar Council of India cannot continue beyond a tenure of seven years.
The apex court had on September 24 said that keeping in mind the long pending cases, elections to the state bar councils will have to be held by January 31, 2026.
It had said that the verification drive for LLB certificates of lawyers cannot be a ground for postponing the elections.
The top court was hearing petitions seeking to quash Rule 32 of the Bar Council of India Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules, 2015, which empowers the BCI to extend the tenure of state Bar Council members beyond the statutory limit prescribed under the Advocates Act 1961.