Supreme Court To Hear Plea Seeking Women's Reservation In Upcoming State Bar Council Elections

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on December 1, the issue of adequate representation of women members in the State Bar Council elections across the country. 

The bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Baghchi issued notice in an interlocutory application seeking directions for ensuring that adequate women representation is there before the onset of State Bar Elections across the country in a phased format. The application is filed by Advocate Yogamaya in her wwrit petition.

Notably, the state bar elections have been divided into 5 phases, as per the recent schedule laid down by the Supreme Court : 

Five-Phase Schedule :

a. Phase 1 – Uttar Pradesh, Telangana — to be completed by 31 January 2026

b. Phase 2 – Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Tripura, Puducherry — to be completed by 28 February 2026

c. Phase 3 – Rajasthan, Punjab & Haryana, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Karnataka, Gujarat — to be completed by 15 March 2026

d. Phase 4 – Meghalaya, Maharashtra — to be completed by 31 March 2026

e. Phase 5 – Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam — to be completed by 30 April 2026 

The petitioner has filed the interlocutory application in the main petition. The Apex Court, on September 17, 2024, issued notice in the PIL, which mainly sought proportional representation of women, queer community, the differently abled and the reserved category persons in the Bar Council of India and State Bar Councils.

The main contention of the petitioner is to read ' proportional representation' under S. 3 (2)(b) to mean a proportional representation of the unrepresented categories. 

S. 3(2) of 1961 Act states " (b) in the case of a State Bar Council with an electorate not exceeding five thousand, fifteen members, in the case of a State Bar Council with an electorate exceeding five thousand but not exceeding ten thousand, twenty members, and in the case of a State Bar Council with an electorate exceeding ten thousand, twenty-five members, elected in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote from amongst advocates on the electoral roll of the State Bar Council.

In the present application, the following reliefs are sought: 

(A) Issue appropriate directions to the Respondents to place before this Hon'ble Court a clear and time-bound mechanism for ensuring meaningful and adequate representation of women advocates in the forthcoming State Bar Council elections across all Phases (I–V), including but not limited to reservation, structural safeguards, affirmative measures, or any other mechanism that this Hon'ble Court may deem fit; and 

(B) Direct the Respondents to interpret and apply the principle of “proportional representation” under Sections 3(2)(b) and 3(3) of the Advocates Act, 1961, in a manner consistent with constitutional mandates of equality, non discrimination, and substantive representation of women advocates, to correct the existing gender imbalance in State Bar Council membership; and

(C) Issue directions to ensure adequate and meaningful representation of women advocates in all five phases of the 2026 State Bar Council elections, including one or more of the following measures:

i reservation or quota for women candidates;

ii. mandatory minimum representation thresholds;

iii. affirmative nomination or list-based requirements;

iv. any other affirmative structure or safeguard that this Hon'ble Court; may consider necessary to secure gender-equitable representation;

(D) Direct the Bar Council of India and all State Bar Councils participating in Phases I–V to incorporate the above gender-equity measures into their election notifications, rules, and procedures for the 2026 election cycle; and

(E) Pass such further orders or directions as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the interests of justice, equity, and to secure fair, inclusive, and constitutionally compliant representation of women in the governance of statutory bodies regulating the legal profession.

Senior Advocate Shobha Gupta and Advocate Deepak Prakash appeared for the petitioner.

Case Details : YOGAMAYA M.G. Versus UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.W.P.(C) No. 581/2024