Delhi High Court Refuses To Order Fresh Elections For Delhi Bar Council Over Ballot Tampering Allegations

The Delhi High Court has refused to order a fresh election to the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD), holding that the discovery of tampered ballot papers during counting did not vitiate the entire electoral process and therefore did not warrant a re-poll. The Court upheld the decision of the High-Powered Election Supervisory Committee (HPESC), which had directed that counting recommence from the stage of second-preference vote counting after the ballot-tampering incident came to light.

A Division Bench of Justice Anil Kshetrapal and Justice Tejas Karia was dealing with a batch of petitions challenging the HPESC's May 6 order rejecting demands for a re-poll in the BCD elections held in February this year.

The Supreme Court had earlier stayed the announcement of the BCD election result till the final decision by the High Court.

The controversy arose after a counting staff member was caught on April 15 allegedly altering voter preferences on ballot papers during the elimination round of counting. An FIR was registered, and the counting process was halted. Petitioners contended that the admitted ballot tampering, coupled with various alleged irregularities in polling and counting, had irretrievably compromised the integrity of the election and necessitated a fresh poll.

Rejecting the contention, the Court noted that after the incident was detected, the Election Committee immediately stopped counting, identified the affected ballots and corrected the vote transfers in accordance with the voters' original preferences. The Court recorded that 18 manipulated ballots were initially detected and, when counting resumed pursuant to the HPESC's order, another nine manipulated ballots were discovered, taking the total to 27.

The Bench acknowledged that the possibility of additional manipulated ballots could not be completely ruled out. However, it held that the relevant question was whether the tampering had vitiated the election process as a whole. The Court answered this in the negative, observing that the HPESC had already directed recounting from the stage at which second-preference vote counting commenced in order to neutralise the effect of any tampering.

Referring to the Bar Council of Delhi Rules and the Bar Council of India Guidelines governing scrutiny and counting of ballots, the Court held that the legal framework already provides a mechanism for dealing with altered or suspicious ballot papers. It noted that ballot papers containing overwriting, erasures, additions or alterations are to be treated as doubtful ballots and placed before the Additional Solicitor General for a final determination on how they should be counted.

The Court held:

"Consequently, the entire BCD Election does not warrant a fresh poll merely because such manipulated ballot papers were identified during the counting process."

The Bench further directed that all doubtful ballots be segregated and preserved in sealed packets, with reasons recorded for the treatment accorded to each ballot. It observed that this procedure would adequately safeguard voter intent while avoiding prejudice to any candidate.

Holding that the manipulation incident did not strike at the root of the electoral process, the Court concluded that a re-poll would be disproportionate and unnecessary. It accordingly upheld the HPESC's decision declining the prayer for a fresh election and annulment of the ongoing BCD election process.

The petitions arose from the BCD elections conducted on February 21, 22 and 23, 2026, in which 221 candidates contested for 23 elected positions under the preferential voting system. The election process had subsequently become embroiled in litigation after allegations of ballot tampering surfaced during the elimination rounds of counting.

Case : Raman Gandhi v Bar Council of Delhi & Ors

Click here to read the order