Bihar State Bar Council does not have duly elected members, the members from the State Bar Councils are elected for a period of five years. One State Bar Council elects one of its members for Bar Council of India. The Council elects its own Chairman and Vice-Chairman for a period of two years. If Bihar State Bar Council has total 47,528 voters, how did voting of 56,350 voters took place?
The aggrieved advocates in Bihar include R.K. Singh, A. Kumar, P. K. Paswan, R.S. Roy, Alka Pandey, P.K. Singh, F.A. Khan and RJP Singh. They pursued a case the Patna High Court. Notably, ahead of the Bihar State Bar Council elections in December 2023, The Gazette of India published a 2-page long notification dated June 23, 2023 on June 26, 2023 under the subject "The house in order to improve the Standard of Legal Profession further feels the need to repeal Rule 32 and new Rule 32 of Bar Council of India Certificate and Place of Practice".
The new Rule 32 reads: "Rule 32. In case the term of elected members of any state Bar Council is likely to expire/expires due to delay in the process of identification of non-practicing advocates or verification of their certificates or delay in the preparation in the electoral roll for the election to the state Bar Councils due to the aforementioned reasons, the Bar Council of India may allow the elected members/and the office-bearers of the State Bar Council(s) to continue to function beyond their extended tenure under Section 8 of the Advocates’ Act, 1961 in order to complete the process of verification and in order to ensure that no non-practicing Advocate becomes a voter or a member of any state Bar Council. The State Bar Council(s) shall be required to complete the process of verification within a period of 18 months from the date of extension of their tenure by the Bar Council of India and shall complete the process of election within a period of 6 months therefrom. In case, of failure to complete the process of verification and the election within the said extended period as prescribed under this Rule, the Bar Council of India may dissolve the State Bar Council and shall proceed to constitute the Special Committee as provided under Section 8A of the Advocates Act, 1961." It also stipulates that "In case of any doubt or dispute as to the meaning, interpretation, execution of these Rules arises, the Bar Council of India shall be the final authority to settle such issues and its decision thereon shall be final."
Ratan Kumar Singh, the petitioner had filed in the High Court on February 16, 2024. It was registered on March 14, 2024. A. Kumar, P.K. Paswan, R.S. Roy, Alka Pandey, P.K. Singh, F.A. Khan and RJP Singh were the counsels for the petitioner. The five other respondents were Chairman, Bar Council of India, Bihar State Bar Council, through its Chairman, Returning Officer, the Bihar State Bar Council Election- 2023, Chief Observer, Bihar State Bar Council Election- 2023 and all the Members of Bihar State Bar Council.
In Ratan Kumar Singh vs. The Chairman, Bihar State Election Commission & Ors. (2024), the 44th Chief Justice of Patna High Court, K. Vinod Chandran and Justice Partha Sarthy dismissed the petition with liberty to explore the alternative remedy. The 4-page long judgement dated September 4, 2024 observed:"There is an alternate remedy provided in the Rules itself which the petitioner would be entitled to pursue, if he so desires. We find no reason to interfere with the Rules, specifically the amendments brought in or the elections; which have been concluded and results declared. The intervenor application is also filed, which, in the circumstance of the main matter being rejected does not survive." Ratan Kumar Singh, the petitioner, a practicing Advocate had filed the writ petition challenging the amendment made in 2023 to the Bar Council of Bihar Election Rules, 1968. He had also challenged the elections conducted in the year 2023 to the State Bar Council. The petitioner had submitted that the State of Bihar has less number of Voter-Advocates than more voters&Advocates voted in the election!
The dispute regarding December 2023 election of the Bihar State Bar Council is pending before the Election Tribunal, one of the 15 committees of BCI. It is noteworthy that doctrine of ejusdem generis is relevant in this regard. The expression ejusdem generis-”of the same kind or nature”-signifies a principle of construction whereby words in a statute which are otherwise wide but are associated in the text with more limited words are, by implication, given a restricted operation and are limited to matters of the same class are genus as preceding them. If a list or string or family of genus-describing terms are followed by wider or residuary or sweeping-up words, then the verbal context and the linguistic implications of the preceding words limit the scope of such words. But the preceding words or expressions of restricted meaning must be susceptible of the import that they represent a class. It implies that the Election Tribunal, is essentially a committee of the BCI.
Given the fact that at present, Bihar State Bar Council does not have duly elected members, it has removed the page mentioning the names of members of the Bar Council from 2025 issue of the Bihar Bar Council Journal, although the same was mentioned in the 2024 issues.
Ahead of the Bihar State Bar Council election, three Central Election Tribunals/Committees were constituted on June 25, 2023 which published as the 18-page long notification dated October 9, 2023. The notification on the subject of "Regulations Governing the procedure for Election Petitions and applications Before the Central Election Tribunal/Committees of the Bar Council of India for resolution of issues relating to Election Disputes and other related matters of elections of the State Bar Councils and the Elections of Member Representatives to the Bar Council of India from the State Bar Councils" was published in The Gazette of India.
The BCI claimed that it constituted these three Central Election Committees/Tribunals for looking into and ensuring free and fair elections of different State Bar Councils in the light of directions/observations of Supreme Court in the year 2017. Every Tribunal as per Rules in this regard is headed by a former Chief Justice of High Court who is the Chairman and two other former Judges of High Courts as per the prescribed Rules. Past experience has shown that at many places many Advocates, who fill up the verification forms, still go missing from the list of voters, while several names are included without any verification forms. This apart, thousands of names/father names/enrolment numbers are wrongly mentioned in voter lists. Sometimes very ugly scenes are created at polling booths, at the time of election, and/or during the counting of votes. Even there are complaints of large-scale adoption of corrupt practices, distribution of money etc. for votes, and the use of posters/hoardings against the norms and Rules of Bar Council of India, which makes the candidature of a candidate liable to be cancelled/rejected.
The BCI constituted these Committee(s) to adjudicate and decide such issues/disputes and also to decide/resolve all the objections, issues relating to elections right from any objection relating to electoral roll, acceptance/rejection of nomination, matters/complaints relating to adoption of corrupt practices or use of unfair means in the elections and/or to decide any sort of dispute/matter relating to election of Members of State Bar Council or BCI as the case may be. The day to day affairs of the State Bar Councils are to be looked after by the State Bar Councils only, but the orders or directions of these Tribunals/Committees will be binding on the State Bar Councils, Returning Officers and/or the Observers with regard to the process of election. The Tribunal has been empowered to address and dispose off interim matters, complaints, or other applications expeditiously in a summary manner, and it may do so without requiring a formal hearing with the involved parties, on the basis of documentary evidence before it. Besides this, the Tribunal is empowered to take cognizance of some matters suo motto and is vested with the ability to proactively initiate proceedings in certain instances, and may issue directives or orders as necessary to uphold the principles of fairness and transparency throughout the election and counting processes.
The notification states that "An appeal may be filed within 60 days of the Tribunal's order being communicated to the party as provided under Section-38 of the Advocates Act, 1961." It provides a note which reads: "On earlier occasions, the petitions were filed against the order passed by the Central Election Tribunal (s) of B.C.I. only before the Hon’ble Supreme Court." It implies that High Court need not entertain appeal against Tribunal's order. It also states that "Where no specific provision is made in the procedure/rules the direction of the Tribunal may be sought".
Besides the three pre-existing Elections Tribunals/Committees constituted by BCI's chairman, in a related development, Supreme Court has constituted two Election Tribunals for adjudication of disputes arising out of the State Bar Council elections conducted under the Supreme Court-monitored process in Savita Devi @ Savita Dhanda & Ors. vs. Union of India & Ors. (2026) by its order dated May 18, 2026. The Election Tribunals constituted are as follows:
Election Tribunal 4
(i) Justice Deepak Gupta, former Judge, Supreme Court of India, as Chairperson;
(ii) Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur, former Chief Justice, Andhra Pradesh High Court, as Member;
(iii) Ms. Mahalakshmi Pavani, Senior Advocate, as Member.
Election Tribunal 5
(i) Ms. Justice Hima Kohli, former Judge, Supreme Court of India, as Chairperson;
(ii) Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan, former Chief Justice, Jharkhand High Court, as Member;
(iii) Ms. Kaveeta Wadia, Senior Advocate, as Member.
The Tribunals constituted by the Supreme Court are pure Tribunals. But the three pre-existing Tribunals are "Tribunals/Committees".
Supreme Court's order reads: "6. The aggrieved parties shall be at liberty to submit their respective claims before these Tribunal(s). We request the Tribunal(s) to decide all the issues, including interim directions, expeditiously. 7. All the State Bar Councils are directed to keep the records intact till the election disputes are finally decided by the Tribunal(s). 8. We may hasten to add that the petitioner’s (in W.P. (Civil) No. 614/2026) claim to have secured the highest votes amongst the unsuccessful candidates shall also be examined expeditiously." The petitioners
In a significant development, the Tribunals Reforms Bill, 2026 was passed by the the Rajya Sabha on August 11, 2026. It was approved by Lok Sabha on August 10, 2026. The new laws applies to 16 Tribunals, Appellate Tribunals, and Authorities which will be constituted by an independent National Tribunals Commission (NTC), dominated by the high-ranking members of the judiciary, replacing the central government, which was given the charge of making key appointments and services conditions according to the now repealed Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021. In Madras Bar Association vs. Union of India [(2026) 2 SCC 1], the Supreme Court struck down provisions of the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 and had directed the establishment of an independent National Tribunals Commission. But the Tribunals/Committees constituted by the BCI are not as independent as the ones envisaged under the new law and as per the letter and spirit of the Supreme Court's directions.
Earlier, in Rajiva @ Rajiv Ranjan vs. Bihar State Bar Council, Justice Mohit Kumar Sah had passed a judgement dated July 31, 2023, wherein, he observed:"4. A decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court has been brought to my notice reported in the case of Anup Singh v. Bar Council of India, 2008 (2) BBCJ 126. The Court does not feel very happy after reading the same. Supreme Court has categorically held that at no occasion any election to a Bar Council is held in time. In most of the occasions the statutory life of the Bar Council has been extended by another six months by not holding an election well within time under the statute. This seems to be universal phenomenon across the country. This by itself may cast some doubt over the bona fide of the functioning of such body in matters of holding election within time. 5. It does not enthuse this Court to enter into such dispute between lawyers on the judicial side. A body consisting of eminent and seasoned counsels should be able to handle their affairs in conformity with the law but, since there seems to be a failure on their part which is statutory, the matter has travelled to the Court. The Court has no option but to resolve the issues in this regard."
The Tribunals Reforms Bill, 2026 and the provisions for NTC reveal that BCI has constituted Tribuna;s/Commitees which are not independent because it is not inclined to allow the adjudication of dispute concerning Bihar State Bar Council Election-2023 by an independent Tribunal.
These facts indicate that BCI is yet to adopt transparency and fairness in its functioning. It is to adopt the procedure of giving advance notice and agendas for meetings, recorded resolutions, publication of confirmed minutes, annual independently audited accounts and disclosure of material contracts involving the BCI and entities controlled, promoted or substantially financed by it. It is not clear as to whether BCI preserves electronic records, metadata, financial documents, contracts, recruitment records and communications relating to the BCI and the entities, unless these records are kept it will be difficult to fix accountability for its acts of omission and commission.
Also read:Bihar Bar Council Journal removes names of members of Bihar State Bar Council due to pending dispute before Central Election Tribunal
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