BREAKING | BCI Decides To Increase Bar Council Seats, Says Those Elected Within Present Strength Mustn't Be Excluded For Women Reservation
The BCI has decided that Returning Officers must revise and republish declared results
In a move that could alter the composition of State Bar Councils after elections have been held, the Bar Council of India (BCI) has resolved to increase the number of seats, purportedly to accommodate the Supreme Court-mandated 30% reservation for women advocates, while ensuring that no candidate elected under the existing statutory strength loses their seat.
The decision was taken by the BCI General Council at its meeting on July 19 and communicated on July 21 to High-Powered Election Committees and Returning Officers conducting State Bar Council elections. The Council said the existing statutory elected strength of 15, 20 or 25 members under Section 3(2)(b) of the Advocates Act, 1961, must remain "intact, undiminished and unaffected." Instead of reducing or earmarking existing seats, the BCI has proposed adding seats wherever necessary to fulfil the prescribed representation for women.
The move is purportedly aimed at giving effect to the Supreme Court's December 8, 2025 order in Yogamaya M.G. v. Union of India, which directed that women should have 30% representation in State Bar Councils, with 20% through election and 10% through co-option.
Under the mechanism approved by the BCI, women candidates who secure places within the existing statutory strength will first be counted towards the reservation quota. Only the remaining shortfall, if any, will be met by adding seats for women candidates according to their inter se electoral ranking. Thus, if no woman is elected within the statutory strength, the total strength of a 25-member State Bar Council may increase to 32, that of a 20-member Council to 26, and that of a 15-member Council to 19. Where women are elected within the statutory strength, the number of additional seats will reduce correspondingly.
The BCI has decided that where election results have already been declared, Returning Officers must revise and republish them by first declaring the highest-ranked candidates up to the statutory strength as elected. Women candidates within that bracket will be counted towards the prescribed quota, and only the remaining shortfall will be filled by additional women candidates. It has clarified that no candidate falling within the statutory elected strength shall be excluded or displaced and no woman candidate shall be counted twice.
The General Council has simultaneously constituted a committee of senior advocates comprising S.B. Upadhyay, Guru Krishna Kumar, Dinesh Kumar Goswami and Priya Hingorani to examine the legality of the proposed mechanism. The committee has been asked to submit its report within six weeks, after which the BCI will place its final resolution before the Supreme Court for consideration. Until then, members added through the proposed mechanism will be entitled to participate in meetings, vote and contest for office, subject to the Court's final orders.
The BCI has stated that the proposal for additional seats will remain subject to the consideration of the committee report, its consideration by the General Council and the orders of the Supreme Court.
In its communication, the BCI instructed Returning Officers to preserve the complete electoral record, prepare the final overall ranking of candidates, separately identify women candidates within the statutory strength, calculate any remaining shortfall in representation and forward the certified results to the BCI. It also directed election authorities not to exclude or treat as unelected any candidate falling within the existing statutory elected strength merely to accommodate women's representation.