New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said elections in state bar councils have to be held by January 31, 2026 keeping mind the long pendency.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh said verification drive for LLB certificates cannot be a ground for postponing the elections.
“Having regard to the fact that elections to the State Bar Councils have not been held for decades, we have impressed upon senior counsel appearing for the Bar Council of India to ensure that elections of all State Bar Councils are held, if not simultaneously, in phased manner, by January 31, 2026,” the bench ordered.
The top court was informed that the ongoing drive for verification of LLB certificates of advocates revealed a large number of fake degrees.
“There are people with fake degrees or no degrees at all. Then there are criminals who disguise themselves as lawyers to enter courtrooms and create violence,” Justice Kant said, while lauding the drive.
The bench said in a democratic institution comprising a large number of lawyers and senior lawyers, elections should not have been delayed and held on time.
The top court was hearing a batch of pleas seeking to quash the Rule 32 of the Bar Council of India Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules, 2015, which empowers BCI to extend the term of State Bar Council members beyond the statutory limits prescribed under the Advocates Act 1961.
Senior advocate Madhavi Divan, appearing for the petitioners, said only 14 out of 23 state bar councils have entered appearance and a few have filed replies.
Divan said in most state bar councils, elections have not been held for over two years and urged the bench to list the matter for hearing on Rule 32 and order elections in the meantime.
Senior advocate Guru Krishnakumar, appearing for Bar Council of India, claimed to have written to all state bar councils in July to prepare for elections but received responses only from six or seven of them.
He said so far as verification of the LLB certificates was concerned, around 50 per cent work has been done and urged the bench to extend the time till March 31, 2026 to all the state bar councils to hold the elections.