The Supreme Court on Wednesday permitted a candidate in the Bar Council of India elections to challenge the methodology adopted for counting votes under the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system before the Election Tribunal, while clarifying that all issues raised in his Special Leave Petition would remain open.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana was hearing

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The dispute arose out of the implementation of the STV system in the ongoing Bar Council elections following the introduction of reservation for women candidates. The petitioner contended that the Election Supervisory Committee’s interpretation of the counting rules was contrary to the statutory scheme governing STV.

Under the STV system, votes cast for a candidate who is eliminated are transferred to the voter’s next preference. However, the petitioner argued that the present counting methodology also transferred votes cast in favour of women candidates who had already secured election under the reservation mechanism to their second-preference candidates. According to him, this effectively enabled the same vote to contribute to the election of two candidates, thereby distorting the principles of proportional representation and regional representation.

Illustrating the issue through an example, counsel submitted that where a voter’s first preference was a woman candidate and the second preference was a male candidate, the woman candidate’s election under the reserved category still resulted in the vote being transferred to the male candidate, conferring a benefit that the STV system did not contemplate. Counsel argued:

The Bench observed that the concern raised by the petitioner was that the same vote was effectively being used to elect two candidates because of the affirmative mechanism introduced for ensuring women’s representation. CJI Surya Kant remarked:

At the same time, the Court noted that the reservation mechanism had been introduced pursuant to its own directions to improve women’s representation in Bar Council elections, and the issue required examination by the forum designated to adjudicate election disputes.

Accepting the petitioner’s request, the Bench permitted him to approach the Election Tribunal and expressly clarified that the Tribunal would be free to examine all issues raised in the SLP, notwithstanding that the impugned counting rules had been framed by a committee constituted pursuant to the Supreme Court’s orders. Recording the liberty granted, the Court observed:

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