Key Takeaways
- The Supreme Court may scrap SCBA 2025 elections if irregularities are proved, says Justice Surya Kant.
- Dr. Adish C. Aggarwala has challenged the results of the 2025 SCBA elections, citing serious irregularities and electoral fraud.
- The Supreme Court has asked Aggarwala to formally file the application with an affidavit and serve a copy to the opposite parties.
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday heard a plea filed by Senior Advocate Dr. Adish C. Aggarwala challenging the results of the 2025 Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) elections, citing serious irregularities and electoral fraud.
The matter was mentioned before a bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh.
Justice Surya Kant, responding to the mentioning, remarked, “If we are satisfied, we will set aside the election,” while directing the applicant to wait for the constitution of a Special Bench comprising himself and Justice K.V. Viswanathan, which has already been dealing with issues related to SCBA electoral reforms in the SCBA v. B.D. Kaushik case.
The court refused urgent listing, with Justice Kant noting, “Wait for the Special Bench… find out when Justice Viswanathan is sitting, I will sit that week. There is no question of listing today. Heavens won’t fall.”
Aggarwala, the immediate past president of SCBA (2023–2024), contested the 2025 elections and lost to Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, who secured 1,047 votes to Aggarwala’s 683. In his application, Aggarwala contends that 2,651 votes were counted, including invalid votes, while only 2,588 voting slips were issued. “This clearly indicates that 200 excess votes were found in the ballot boxes as compared to the slips issued,” the plea asserts.
The plea also alleges model code violations by Vikas Singh, including campaign communications sent to voters on the eve and day of polling, despite a complaint to the Election Committee.
Aggarwala further claims that the Election Committee declared the results in collusion with Singh and former SCBA President Kapil Sibal, while several votes allegedly remained uncounted.
Justice Kant reiterated that the Court is open to examining “any allegation of gross illegality, including impersonation of voters,” if supported by credible evidence. The bench has already directed the preservation of CCTV footage related to the voting process.
Aggarwala also alleged that the Election Commissioner, Senior Advocate Mahalakshmi Pavani, campaigned for Vikas Singh in violation of neutrality expected of her office. He contended that the total number of votes cast exceeded both the number of slips and the ballot papers issued, raising concerns of fraud and manipulation.
The court has asked Aggarwala to formally file the application with an affidavit and serve a copy to the opposite parties. Justice Kant made it clear that the issue will be considered only by the designated Special Bench.
“If the allegations are substantiated, we will set aside the election,” Justice Kant concluded./
