The Supreme Court on Friday permitted the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) to declare the results of its recently concluded elections, while directing aggrieved candidates to raise their election-related grievances before the election tribunals constituted for adjudicating such disputes.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana was hearing petitions challenging aspects of the BCD election process, including allegations of tampering of ballots, excess and dubious votes and non-compliance with directions concerning counting and reconciliation.
The Court noted that when the petitions were filed, the election process was nearing completion and it had permitted counting to proceed while directing that the results should not be declared. During the pendency of the proceedings, the counting was completed on August 3, 2026, following which the BCD submitted a status report on compliance with the Court’s directions.
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The BCD informed the Court that the counting had been completed and a subsequent reconciliation of the paper counterfoils and electronic records had also been undertaken. It was submitted that 96 ballots had been identified as doubtful, and these had been scrutinised.
Several candidates, however, continued to allege large-scale ballot tampering and questioned the manner in which reconciliation had been conducted. The Court noted that there were serious allegations of tampering, but indicated that such disputed factual issues were more appropriately examined by the election tribunals.
The Court explained that election tribunals had subsequently been constituted, headed by former Supreme Court judges, to provide an independent forum where factual disputes arising from Bar Council elections could be examined. Since election disputes concerning other State Bar Councils had also been relegated to these tribunals, the Court saw “no reason to take a different view in these cases also.”
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“That being so, we see no reason to take a different view in these cases also. The petitions are accordingly disposed of with liberty to the aggrieved persons to file their respective petitions before the election tribunals constituted by this Court. Before the election tribunals, including those constituted by this Court, having regard to the fact that the uncertainty with respect to Bar Council elections should come to an end at the earliest, we request the appellate tribunal before whom such petitions are listed to provide expeditious hearing.”
The Court also directed the Bar Council of Delhi to preserve the entire election record, ensuring that the material remains available for consideration in any election dispute before the tribunal.