Less than 48 hours after results of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) elections were declared, one of the contestants for the post of president has moved the Supreme Court over several irregularities during the election.
Senior Advocate Adish C Aggarwala, who had earlier been President of the SCBA a few years ago, submitted to the bench led by Justice Surya Kant that 200 votes were cast illegally.
Justice Kant said only the Special Bench comprising himself and Justice KV Viswanathan can hear the application, the very same bench had passed orders for SCBA polls, including reserving the post of Honorary Secretary for women candidates.
Refusing to list it for today, the judge told Aggarwala that he should wait for when that bench convenes and added that the heavens won’t fall.
To this, Aggarwala said the post of president is being occupied by a man who has not been elected. Justice Kant replied that if the bench was satisfied, it can set aside the poll. He asked Aggarwala to file an application supported by an affidavit.
Aggarwala got 683 votes while Vikas Singh, who won the SCBA President poll for the fourth time, got 1,047 votes. Senior Advocate Pradeep Rai got 834 votes and stood second.
Aggarwala charged one of the three election commissioners of having campaigned for Singh. Noting the variance in the total number of votes cast and the slips issued by the election officers, Aggarwala said the votes polled were higher than the number of slips, which should have been the same if there had been no foul play.
He charged that there were many other discrepancies including the sending of emails before voting on May 20. Some got the email from Singh at 1.14 am (photo above) while others got it much later, right up to polling. Mostly, these were new members who were voting for the first time.
As far as the election rules are concerned, they are strict. The code of conduct put out by the SCBA election committee notes: “All campaigning in all forms whether through the virtual mode or in physical form including through social media must be stopped by after the completion of debate for the posts of President and Secretary on 19.05.2025 i.e. before the date of polling i.e. 20.05.2025.
“There should be no SMS/ Phone Call/ E-mails/ WhatsApp messages and other such forms of social media campaigning distribution of hand bills / pamphlets either in the Supreme Court premises or in the designated polling area on the date of poll and it shall be the responsibility of a candidate to ensure that his/her agents conduct themselves in a manner befitting the dignity of the Bar of the Apex Court.
“Any candidate or his/her agent found violating the above guidelines or obstructing any voter from exercising his/her right to vote will render that candidate liable for disqualification,” the code reads.