The Supreme Court of India stayed counting of votes in the Bar Council of Delhi elections over alleged tampering and directed the Delhi High Court to hear the dispute daily through a special division bench constituted for continuous proceedings.
The Supreme Court ordered that the counting of votes for the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) elections be kept on hold in light of allegations of tampering. The court directed that the matter be heard by the Delhi High Court on a day-to-day basis.
The order was passed by a Bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, with Justice Joymalya Bagchi, while hearing a petition filed by Birender Sangwan and others. The Chief Justice transferred the dispute to a division bench of the high court and requested that the Chief Justice of the high court set up a special bench to take up the case continuously.
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The bench ordered,
“Learned counsels for the parties have fairly agreed that since effective adjudication of controversy might require summoning of original records, such as ballot papers etc., it would be apt, if matter is entrusted to a division bench of the Delhi High Court. Consequently, we transfer these petitions to the Delhi High Court with a request to the Chief Justice to list the same before a special bench within this week,”
The court further instructed that until the high court decides the issue, “further counting of ballot papers shall be kept in abeyance.” It also made it clear that it had not made any observation on the merits of the case and that parties were free to raise their arguments before the High Court.
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Representing the petitioners, advocate Shobha Gupta sought immediate relief, telling the court that the integrity of the democratic process within the bar was at stake.
Gupta said,
“Tampered ballot papers are being counted. There is an emergency,”
The CJI observed that the Delhi High Court would be better positioned to deal with the dispute. The Supreme Court noted that it had received a sealed letter dated May 2 from former High Court judge Justice Talwant Singh regarding the election process. The court ordered that the letter be resealed and sent to the Chief Justice of the High Court for further consideration. The Bench reiterated that it had not formed any view on the merits of the allegations.
To preserve the status quo, the Supreme Court reiterated that “further counting of ballot papers shall be kept in abeyance” until the high court reaches a final decision.
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