SCBA Seeks CJI’s Urgent Intervention After Lawyers Detained Near Supreme Court; All Later Reported Released
The Bar Association urged authorities to account for detained advocates, ensure access to legal assistance and examine the reported
(Judicial Quest News Network)
NEW DELHI, October 10, 2026 — The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has called for the Chief Justice of India’s urgent intervention after advocates including women lawyers were detained during a protest march near the Supreme Court.
In a resolution adopted on Saturday, the Association condemned what it described as the reported use of excessive force and asked that the detainees’ safety, whereabouts and access to legal assistance be promptly verified.
The lawyers were marching in protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
According to the report on the detention, Delhi Police and Central Reserve Police Force personnel intercepted the group near the Supreme Court after it had proceeded for about 100 yards. The lawyers were placed on a bus. An initial report said their destination was not known; a subsequent account said they were taken to the Yamuna Sports Complex.
What The SCBA Asked the CJI To Do
The SCBA’s resolution said the Association had been informed that several advocates had been detained.
It asked Chief Justice of India Surya Kant to take up the matter with the concerned authorities and ensure that the location and safety of every detained lawyer were established. It also sought access to legal assistance and the immediate release of anyone for whose detention there were no lawful grounds.
The Association separately called for the circumstances surrounding the detentions and the reported use of force to be examined, with any further action taken in accordance with law.
Its resolution was an urgent representation to the CJI; it was not a judicial finding on the legality of the police action.
The intervention drew attention to the safeguards that apply when a person is taken into custody, as well as the need for authorities to state the legal basis for any detention.
The SCBA’s appeal focused on locating the advocates, protecting their safety and ensuring access to legal assistance while the circumstances were clarified.
CJI Reportedly Communicates for Release; Detainees Later Freed
After the SCBA’s representation, the Chief Justice reportedly communicated to the authorities that the detained lawyers should be released. The Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association also raised the matter with the CJI, and the Solicitor General was reported to have intervened.
A later report quoting SCBA Secretary Pragya Baghel said all the detainees had subsequently been released.
The reported release brought the immediate custody issue to a close, while the SCBA’s request that the circumstances of the detentions and alleged use of force be examined remained a separate matter.
The episode places the treatment of peaceful demonstrators and the procedural protections owed to people who are detained at the centre of a wider dispute over protest-related policing in the capital.
Whether the force used was excessive, and whether any individual detention lacked lawful grounds, are matters to be assessed on the evidence; the Association’s resolution records its concerns and its request for urgent scrutiny
