BREAKING| Supreme Court Allows Newly Qualified AORs To Vote In SCAORA Elections

The Supreme Court on Monday provisionally allowed newly registered Advocates-on-Record (AORs) to vote in the upcoming elections for the office bearers of the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA).

The Court passed the interim order while issuing notice on a writ petition challenging the exclusion of newly registered Advocates-on-Record from the voter list for the SCAORA elections.

"Issue Notice. Meanwhile, the Advocates-on-Record who were registered on April 16, 2026, shall be permitted to cast their vote provisionally. However, they shall not be entitled to contest the elections," the Court ordered. This order would allow nearly 205 new AORs, who cleared the 2025 AOR exams, of which the results were published in February this year, to vote.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi also observed that the Election Committee may explore the possibility of postponing the election date - presently scheduled to be held on April 29 - by one week for the formalities of the membership enrolment of the newly qualified AORs.

The Chief Justice observed during the hearing that the new AORs cannot be denied rights only on the technical ground that they were formally inducted only on April 16(after the last date for new membership applications). "There is some delay on the part of the Supreme Court also...Only because of administrative exigencies... I could have called them to court before the 16th..." CJI said.

"They are on the threshold of membership, technically, they are not members, but for all practical purposes, they have complied with all the requisites for membership," Justice Bagchi commented.

Advocate Rajiv Shankar Dwivedi appeared for the petitioner. He pointed out that the results were published on February 28, and that they have also paid the membership fee within the time. Only because the formal induction ceremony happened on April 16, they are excluded from the voter list, he added.

A counsel opposing the petition submitted that the Executive Committee has to verify the applications, and until that is done, voting rights cannot be given.

The bench said that if legal issues are raised, then it will issue notice on the petition, and will allow the new AORs to vote in the meantime.

When the bench indicated that it would allow the new AORs to vote, Senior Advocate PV Dinesh requested that the election date be extended so that all the candidates also get a fair opportunity to interact with the new voters. The bench said that it will leave the matter to be decided by the election committee.

The Election Committee of SCAORA issued an election notice on April 8, 2026, notifying the schedule for elections to the office bearers and executive committee for the term 2026–2028. The notice fixed April 14, 2026 as the last date for new membership eligibility and clearance of dues by existing members.

The petitioner states that she submitted her membership form on April 13, 2026 along with payment of Rs. 3000 towards membership and Rs. 500 towards subscription, for which a receipt was issued on the same date. Several other newly registered Advocates-on-Record similarly submitted their forms and made payments before April 14, 2026, the plea states.

As per the petition, on April 15, 2026, the Election Committee decided not to extend the deadline or grant membership to those who did not have an Advocate-on-Record code as on April 14, 2026. On the same day, a 94-page voter list containing 2058 names was published, which did not include newly registered Advocates-on-Record.

On April 16, 2026, the Supreme Court allowed applications for registration of 205 Advocates-on-Record, thereby granting them Advocate-on-Record status.

On April 17, 2026, the Election Committee issued another notice extending the deadline for existing members to clear dues till April 18, 2026 at 5 PM. However, this extension was not made applicable to newly registered Advocates-on-Record, the plea states.

The plea states that the petitioner and other newly registered Advocates-on-Record submitted a detailed representation on April 17, 2026 through email and WhatsApp to the Election Committee seeking inclusion in the voter list. However, no response has been received to this representation.

On April 20, 2026, a supplementary voter list titled “subscription received till 5:00 PM on 18-04-2026” was released, adding 201 members. The petition states that even this list excluded newly registered Advocates-on-Record who had paid their membership dues and subscription before April 14, 2026.

The petitioner contends that the exclusion of newly registered Advocates-on-Record from the voter list on the ground of non-allotment of Advocate-on-Record codes is arbitrary and amounts to unequal treatment. It is argued that under the SCAORA Rules and Regulations, membership is not denied for want of an AOR code and only requires that a person be an Advocate-on-Record and a member of the Supreme Court Bar Association.

The petition also contends that permitting existing members to clear dues till April 18, 2026 while denying similar opportunity to newly registered Advocates-on-Record creates an arbitrary classification among members.

The petition has been filed through Advocate on Record Vishakha.

Case no. – W.P.(C) No. 549 / 2026

Case Title – Ritu Rajkumari v. Election Committee