Supreme Court Bar Association Election Results To Be Re-Counted

The Supreme Court was told today that the results of the recently held elections for the posts of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) will be recounted in view of some complaints.

Senior Advocate Vijay Hansaria, the member of the Election Committee constituted by the Court, told a bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Dipankar Datta, "On complaints of Mr Adish C Aggarwala, Mr Pradeep Rai...who contested for President...we found that yes, the allegation made...that the total no. of votes declared for the post of President were 2651 which exceeded the no. of ballots issued that is 2588...we are proposing to recount today at 11:30...".

The bench said that immediately after recounting the votes for SCBA President, a report should be submitted to the Court without declaring the results. Meanwhile, the results of the other Executive Committee members votes must be re-counted, the bench said.

"We have received [complaints] only with respect to President and Executive Member. For recounting, we have requested Registrar General to act as Observer," Hansaria said.

"Then, please go for recount with respect to these. Don't declare the results after recount. We'd like to see if it's fair after recounting," Justice Kant said.

During the hearing, the bench also expressed displeasure with Dr Adish Aggarwala, who was appearing virtually and had apparently written a letter suggesting criminal prosecution against the Election Committee members. Justice Kant said that any attempt to browbeat the members of the Election Committee cannot be tolerated, as they are like the "extended arms" of the Court.

Hansaria informed that the recounting of the Executive Member posts will take 2-3 days' time, but some members of the EC are unavailable for a few weeks. In reply, the bench said that recounting of the votes for SCBA President post be started immediately and if need be, the Court would substitute some members of the EC.

Case Title: Supreme Court Bar Association v. BD Kaushik, Diary No. 13992/2023