New Delhi, Oct 1 The Supreme Court on Thursday asked Attorney General R Venkataramani to consider a plea seeking an increase in the statutory strength of State Bar Councils, currently capped at 25 members under the Advocates Act.
A bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana passed the order while hearing a petition filed by advocate Rohit Pandey, who has challenged the adequacy of the existing strength of State Bar Councils in view of the substantial growth in the number of advocates over the decades.
The plea said that the 25-member limit was prescribed when the Advocates Act was enacted in 1961.
Now, the electorate of several State Bar Councils has increased manifold since then, it said.
The counsel for Pandey cited the Bar Council of Delhi, which, according to the plea, has around two lakh registered advocates, and argued that such a large electorate requires adequate and proportionate representation in its elected body.
Pandey had contested the 2026 Bar Council of Delhi elections and secured 2,259 votes.
According to his plea, he fell short of the requisite quota by 63.5 votes and consequently could not secure a place among the 25 members of the Council.
The petition further challenged the manner in which the 30 per cent representation for women advocates, directed by the Supreme Court, was implemented in the State Bar Councils.
It said that a woman candidate who secured 265 votes was declared elected under the mechanism adopted to ensure the mandated representation.
Senior advocate Vikas Singh, along with other senior counsel, supplemented the petitioner's submissions and said that Article 142 of the Constitution cannot be invoked to pass a judicial direction contrary to the statutory framework.
The bench, however, indicated that it was conscious of the limits of judicial intervention in a matter involving a change in the statutory composition of State Bar Councils.
“We are absolutely aware of the judicial limitation, and that's why (we are) requesting the Attorney General,” Justice Bagchi said.
The court also indicated that if the attorney general takes a contrary view on the issue, it would consider the matter further.
The court's order follows a similar approach adopted on September 2 while considering pleas seeking an increase in the strength of the Bar Councils of Maharashtra and Goa.
On that occasion, the bench had observed that enhancement of the number of members involved a policy decision and requested the attorney general to treat the plea as a representation and take an appropriate decision in consultation with the concerned State Bar Councils.
The same approach was subsequently extended to a plea concerning the strength of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu, with the bench clarifying that the September 2 order would have pan-India application.
