The Supreme Court allowed counting of votes in the Bar Council of Delhi elections to continue while hearing a plea alleging irregularities in the poll process. However, the Bench directed that no election results be declared without prior permission from the Court.
The Supreme Court permitted the continuation of vote counting in the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) elections.
However, it ordered that no results should be announced without the court’s approval.
The directive was issued by a vacation Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice V. Mohana while hearing a special leave petition filed by Advocate Rudra Vikram Singh.
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The Bench ordered,
“List on reopening [of court]. Meanwhile, it is directed that counting of votes shall continue but no result shall be declared till the permission of the court,”
The case arose from allegations of irregularities in the BCD elections conducted earlier this year.
Earlier, On May 18, the Supreme Court directed a special Bench of the Delhi High Court to consider petitions challenging the manner in which the elections were conducted. Following concerns that allegedly tampered ballot papers were being counted, the Supreme Court stayed the counting process until the High Court delivered its decision.
Thereafter, on June 6, a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court comprising Justice Anil Kshetarpal and Justice Tejas Karia held that petitions alleging irregularities and seeking a re-poll were maintainable. However, it found that the circumstances did not warrant ordering a fresh election.
The High Court ruled that the entire election process could not be set aside merely because some manipulated ballot papers had been identified during the counting stage. It also noted that a recount of first-preference votes was not required, as the alleged manipulation did not affect that phase.
Consequently, the High Court allowed the counting to restart from the point where it had been halted.
To promote transparency, the High Court directed a set of safeguards, including secure and lockable storage for ballot papers, installation of high-resolution cameras, continuous CCTV monitoring, live streaming of the counting process, and tighter verification procedures for counting staff.
The High Court also ordered that 27 allegedly manipulated ballot papers, along with other doubtful ballots, be examined separately by the Additional Solicitor General, with the latter’s decision to be final. Further, it directed strict controls on access to relevant materials and required preservation of election records, while keeping open the petitioners’ right to challenge the outcome through appropriate election proceedings.
The BCD elections were held in February under the supervision of retired Delhi High Court judge Justice Talwant Singh, who acted as the returning officer.
From the beginning, the elections were surrounded by controversy. On February 22, 67 candidates including two Senior Advocateswere placed under summary suspension over alleged large-scale breaches of the Model Code of Conduct and the Election Rules, 2023.
In total, suspension notices were issued to 79 lawyers.
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However, 63 of those notices were withdrawn the following day after the lawyers submitted satisfactory explanations.
Later, the Bar Council of India imposed interim suspension on a lawyer for allegedly misbehaving with Justice Talwant Singh. The allegation was that the lawyer attempted to manhandle the retired judge, encouraged a crowd of lawyers, and raised slogans against the election machinery while Justice Singh was inspecting an area after complaints regarding violations of the Model Code.
The Bar Council of Delhi also suspended former Delhi High Court Bar Association President Rajiv Khosla and nine other advocates from its rolls. The allegations were that they had manhandled, pushed, and abused officials involved in conducting the elections.