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The Supreme Court today allowed the Bar Council of Delhi election results to be declared with a caveat that the results will remain subject to outcome of the cases pending before Election Tribunals.

A bench of CJI Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana referred all BCD election disputes to the Election Tribunals, including those which were constituted by the Court.

The order was passed considering that the Court had already relegated election disputes of other State Bar Councils to Election Tribunals headed by former judges of the Supreme Court and there was no reason to treat the BCD differently.

"Election disputes of other State Bar Councils have already been relegated to Election Tribunals. We see no reason to take a different view in these cases. The petitions are disposed of with liberty to aggrieved persons to file their petitions before Election Tribunals including those constituted by this court. Having regard to the fact that uncertainty with regard to Bar Council elections must come to an end at the earliest, we request the Appellate Tribunals before whom such petitions are listed to provide expeditious hearing subject to cooperation by all. Meanwhile, result can be declared but it shall be subject to outcome of the cases before the Tribunals", the Court stated.

A direction was also passed for the BCD to preserve the entire record, including original footage, and present the same before the tribunals. Delhi Police was further directed to preserve original CCTV footage and provide a copy of the same to concerned persons.

"It will be highly appreciated if the appeals are decided within 3 months", the order added.

The Court was hearing challenges to the Delhi High Court judgment which had declined to order a re-poll in the BCD elections over discovery of ballot tampering during counting. It had previously stayed the counting process till the High Court decided finally the plea challenging the election.

In June, the Court had allowed the completion of counting of votes, but ordered that the results shall not be notified without its prior permission.

Addressing submissions regarding alleged irregularities, ballot tampering and the role of counting staff member Nikhil Kumar, who was arrested after being caught altering voter preferences on ballot papers, CJI Kant had said that the Court would not ignore any compromise with the fairness of the election process.

Background

The dispute relates to the BCD elections held on February 21, 22 and 23, 2026, in which 221 candidates contested for 23 elected seats. During counting on April 15, a counting staff member, Nikhil Kumar, was allegedly caught altering voter preferences on ballot papers. An FIR was registered and counting was halted.

Following the incident, 116 candidates sought a re-poll, contending that the admitted ballot tampering and several other irregularities had irretrievably compromised the election process. The High-Powered Election Supervisory Committee rejected the demand and directed that counting restart from the elimination stage.

On June 6, the Delhi High Court upheld that decision, holding that the discovery of manipulated ballots did not justify scrapping the entire election and ordering a fresh poll. The High Court found that the affected ballots had been identified and corrected and that recounting from the stage of elimination counting was sufficient to address the issue.

The Supreme Court had earlier transferred the election dispute to the Delhi High Court for adjudication, observing that effective resolution might require examination of original election records, including ballot papers. After the High Court rejected the plea for re-poll, the matter returned to the Supreme Court.

Case no. – SLP(C) No. 21926/2026

Case Title – Rudra Vikram Singh v. Bar Council of Delhi

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