Supreme Court Orders Recount of SCBA Election Results Amid Allegations of Irregularities
(Judicial Quest News Network)
New Delhi, May 26 — The Supreme Court of India has ordered a recount of votes cast in the recently held Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) elections, following serious allegations of irregularities, including a discrepancy between the number of ballots issued and votes counted.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta was informed that the vote tally for the post of SCBA President showed 2,651 votes—far exceeding the 2,588 ballots issued. In light of this, the court was urged to oversee a fresh recount for all contested posts, beginning with the President’s seat.
The Election Committee’s counsel proposed that the Registrar General of the Supreme Court be appointed as an observer for the recount process. The bench agreed, directing that a report be submitted to the court immediately after the recount, without declaring the results.
“The results are to be treated as provisional, subject to the outcome of the recounting process,” the bench said, adding that complaints pertain specifically to the posts of President and Executive Committee members.
The court also took note of a prior complaint concerning the lack of enforcement of the Supreme Court’s direction mandating 33% reservation for women in SCBA elections. A lawyer had pointed out that the election results were declared solely on the basis of merit without ensuring the required representation of women in senior executive posts.
Senior Advocate Vikas Singh had been declared the winner of the SCBA Presidential race, defeating fellow senior advocates Adish Agarwala and Pradeep Kumar Rai. Rahul Kaushik was elected Vice President, and Pragya Baghel was named Secretary.
That on 20.05.2025, during the counting for the post of President, it was announced that Applicant had secured 683 votes. It is pertinent to mention here that on 22.05.2025, during the counting for the post of member executive, the Applicant by the time has secured 137 more votes (82 votes, 21 votes, 26 votes, and 8 votes) from the ballot boxes for other posts. It is further submitted that upon adding the 137 additional votes found in other boxes to the 683 votes initially found in the ballot box for the post of President, the total number of votes counted rises to 2,788 and the total number of votes polled in favour of the Applicant comes to 870 at least.
The controversy surrounding the election includes allegations of bogus voting and procedural irregularities. The SCBA polls were held on May 20, with Senior Advocate Vikas Singh emerging victorious as president, defeating rivals Aditi Agarwal and Pradeep Kumar Rai. Senior Advocate Rahul Kaushik was elected vice president, while Pragya Baghel secured the position of secretary.
During the hearing, the bench expressed strong disapproval of a letter written by Dr. Ashish Agarwal, who appeared virtually and reportedly suggested criminal proceedings against members of the Election Committee. Justice Surya Kant remarked that any attempt to malign EC members—who function as extensions of the court—would not be tolerated.
Advocate Hansariya, representing the Election Committee, informed the bench that the recount for Executive Member posts may take up to three days due to the unavailability of some EC members. The court responded that, if necessary, it would consider substituting EC members to ensure the recount proceeds without delay.
The recount of votes for the post of SCBA President was scheduled to begin today at 11:30 AM.
