The Supreme Court on Friday introduced a comprehensive set of reforms governing the structure and election process of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).

One of the key changes announced by the Court is the extension of the tenure of elected office-bearers of the SCBA executive committee from one year to two years. This reform will come into force from 2027.

The Court also widened representation within the association by stating that posts other than that of President may be reserved for women advocates and advocates with disabilities.

The directions were issued by a Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice K V Viswanathan.

The Bench laid down an elaborate framework for voter eligibility in SCBA elections. It ruled that women advocates who have made at least 50 appearances before the Supreme Court during the previous two years would be eligible to vote. For advocates with disabilities, the minimum requirement was reduced to five appearances during the same period.

The Court further directed that at least 75% of appearances must be physical, while only 25% may be virtual.

It also ordered that virtual appearances be separately recorded on the Supreme Court’s digital portal, which is to be modified accordingly.

Clarifying the method for verifying appearances, the Court said eligibility cannot be decided solely on the basis of proximity card entries. Instead, records of proceedings (RoP) and registry reports would serve as the primary proof, while proximity card data would only be treated as supporting material in case of discrepancies.

The Court also expanded the categories of eligible voters. Advocates-on-Record (AORs) who have averaged 20 filings annually over the last three years would qualify to vote. AORs with disabilities would require an average of five filings per year.

In addition, non-AOR advocates who have served as mediators at the Supreme Court Mediation Centre for at least two years and handled 20 mediation matters during that period were also made eligible. For advocates with disabilities, the threshold was reduced to five mediation cases.

Veteran members holding SCBA membership for more than 25 years were also declared eligible, provided they had voted at least once during the preceding five years.

The Bench made it clear that chamber allotment in the Supreme Court, or inclusion in the waiting list for allotment, would not determine voting eligibility. Similarly, mere use of a proximity card for a specified number of days or empanelment with the Supreme Court would not independently qualify a member to vote.

The Court also ruled that government counsel would not be subjected to any separate minimum appearance requirement of three years.

Senior Advocates residing in the National Capital Region, including Delhi, Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad, were also held eligible to vote under the revised framework.

Regarding eligibility to contest elections, the Court directed that candidates must possess at least five years of permanent SCBA membership to contest any post. For major positions such as President, Vice-President, Secretary and Executive Committee posts, candidates must have at least 10 years of regular appearances before the Supreme Court during the preceding decade.

To enable implementation of these reforms, the Court postponed the upcoming SCBA elections by one month. The elections are now scheduled to be conducted in August.