The Supreme Court on Tuesday, August 4, observed that State Bar Councils have increasingly turned into "men's clubs," while hearing a batch of pleas concerning
irregularities in Bar Council elections, including the voting method and the co-option of women members. "Bar Councils have become men's clubs. We may observe that people take it like a monopoly. This has to be completely dismantled," Chief Justice of India Surya Kant remarked during the hearing. The observations came in a set of matters relating to disputes over State Bar Council elections, an area the Court has been actively monitoring through a High-Powered Supervisory Committee headed by Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, constituted earlier to oversee elections to the Bar Council of India and State Bar Councils, and to resolve election-related disputes. Acting on the issue, the Court directed that the Chief Justices of the respective High Courts nominate two co-opted women members to every State Bar Council — one a former High Court judge, and the other a senior woman advocate of good standing at the Bar. It clarified that a candidate who had lost a State Bar Council election would not be barred from being considered for such co-option. The Court also referred the question of how transferable votes should be calculated, particularly with respect to women candidates, to Justice Dhulia's High-Powered Committee for fresh consideration. The committee has been asked to invite suggestions from members of the Bar and provide them an opportunity for an oral hearing before finalising its recommendations.
