Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal has entered the contest for the post of President, Supreme Court Bar Association by filing his nomination for the elections scheduled on May 16. He will contest against Senior Advocate Pradeep Rai, who was Vice-President, SCBA for 2021-22 and 2022-2023.
Sibal returns to the SCBA electoral arena after over 20 years since he held the president’s post last. Sibal had held the post thrice between 1995 and 2002. Kapil Sibal, who served as the Additional Solicitor General of India during 1989–90, joined the bar in 1972 and was designated a Senior Advocate in 1983.
Sibal became an MP for the Congress from Chandni Chowk in Delhi in 2004 and entered the Manmohan Singh Cabinet and continued to serve in both UPA governments.
Senior Advocate Pradeep Rai has over 25 years of standing at the Bar in the Supreme Court of India, various High Courts, Commissions, Regulatory Bodies and Tribunals. He has litigation experience across a wide spectrum of civil, criminal, revenue and constitutional issues. During his two terms as Vice-President, SCBA, Rai founded various sub-committees of the Supreme Court Bar Association, including Grievance Committee, E-Committee, Health Committee, Bar Coordination Committee, Culture Committee and State Sub-Committee.
Senior Advocate Rai launched several schemes in the interest of the Bar including discounted travel scheme, affordable housing scheme, free medical facilities, academic-professional excellence and training programmes and free FastTag scheme for members of the Bar.
Incumbent SCBA President Senior Advocate Adish Aggarwala is standing for re-election. Apart from Sibal, Rai and Aggarwala, Senior Advocate Priya Hingorani and Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave are also in the fray.
The SCBA elections will be held on May 16 from 10 am to 5 pm. Voters will choose the President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The last date for filing nomination is May 9. As per an SCBA circular, a draft of the list of candidates will be displayed on the notice board and on SCBA’s website on May 10.
The final list of nominations will be displayed on the SCBA notice board and its website on May 12. Following this, a debate will be held in the Supreme Court lawns between the candidates for the posts of President and Hony Secretary. Votes will be counted on May 18, Saturday.