New Delhi: The Bar Council of India (BCI) has filed an application before the Supreme Court of India seeking approval of a vote-linked mechanism for co-opting women candidates to State Bar Councils under the 10% co-option quota, in the matter of M. Vardhan v. Union of India, WP(C) No. 1319 of 2023. The BCI has proposed that women candidates who narrowly missed election in the State Bar Council polls, based on their finishing position, be co-opted against the reserved co-option quota rather than through any subjective or discretionary selection process.
Background
In December 2024, the Supreme Court directed that State Bar Councils must ensure 30% women’s representation in their composition. Recognising the practical contingency of an insufficient number of women candidates contesting elections, the Court clarified that 10% of the reserved positions could be filled through co-option, while the remaining 20% would be filled by women elected through the regular electoral process under the Advocates Act, 1961.
On April 13, 2026, while dealing with the modality for implementing the 10% co-option quota, the Supreme Court requested the High-Powered Supervisory Committee headed by Justice (Retired) Sudhanshu Dhulia to decide the manner in which the co-option process should be carried out. The Court’s April 13 order had set out Option (a), namely that co-option be made from among contesting women candidates who secured the highest number of votes but could not be elected within the initial 20% women’s representation quota. The BCI has now formally endorsed this option and moved the Supreme Court for its approval.
BCI’s Proposal
The BCI has proposed a position-based co-option formula linked to the size of the State Bar Council. Specifically, it has sought the Court’s permission to co-opt women candidates who narrowly missed election, as follows: where 25 members are to be elected, candidates finishing in the 26th and 27th positions; where 20 members are to be elected, candidates finishing in the 21st and 22nd positions; and where 15 members are to be elected, the candidate finishing in the 16th position.
The BCI has argued that this approach is consistent with the democratic scheme under the Advocates Act, 1961, since the co-option would be grounded entirely in votes already cast by the electorate during the election process and would not involve any fresh post-election selection by any authority. The application states that the mechanism would be fair, objective, transparent, and least susceptible to arbitrariness, thereby avoiding allegations of favouritism or discrimination.
Submissions Before the Court
The BCI has submitted that linking co-option to the actual votes polled by women candidates ensures that the process remains connected to the democratic choice expressed by advocates, while simultaneously advancing the constitutional and institutional objective of securing adequate representation of women in State Bar Councils. The Bar body has emphasised that such a method respects the will of the Bar electorate and introduces no element of subjectivity at the co-option stage.
The BCI has further stated that the same proposal has been placed before the Supreme Court’s Supervisory Committee overseeing the election process. It has sought a specific direction from the Court approving the vote-based co-option mechanism as the operative method for giving effect to the 10% women’s co-option quota across all State Bar Councils.
Significance
The Supreme Court’s ongoing exercise in this matter reflects a broader judicial effort to institutionalise women’s representation within the legal profession’s self-regulatory bodies. The proposed co-option formula, if approved, would establish a uniform, rule-based standard across all State Bar Councils, replacing the risk of ad hoc or arbitrary selections with a transparent, election-linked process. The outcome of the application will directly affect how the remaining co-option seats are filled following the recently conducted State Bar Council elections.
Case Details:
M. Vardhan v. Union of India, WP(C) No. 1319 of 2023, Supreme Court of India. Application filed by the Bar Council of India seeking approval of a vote-based co-option mechanism for the 10% women’s quota in State Bar Councils. Matter pending before the High-Powered Supervisory Committee headed by Justice (Retired) Sudhanshu Dhulia.
