The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a recount of votes cast in the recently concluded Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) elections 2025, following allegations of voting irregularities, including claims that the number of votes cast exceeded the number of ballots issued.

A vacation bench of Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta was informed by Senior Advocate Vijay Hansaria, a member of the SCBA Election Committee (EC), that the recount would be conducted for all posts, including President and Executive Committee members.

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The Election Committee requested for the appointment of the Registrar General as an observer during the recounting of votes, a request the bench granted.

“Let no candidate have any doubt. Let there be recounting for all elections wherever there is a complaint,” the bench stated.

However, the Court barred the declaration of results post-recount until a detailed report is submitted to the Court for its consideration.

The SCBA elections were held on May 20. According to the results declared, Senior Advocate Vikas Singh was declared elected as President, defeating Senior Advocates Adish C Aggarwala and Pradeep Kumar Rai. Senior Advocate Rahul Kaushik was elected Vice-President, and Advocate Pragya Baghel was elected Secretary.

Soon after the results, candidates, including Varun Mudga, alleged bogus voting and irregularities in the counting process. The Election Committee admitted that vote counting was disrupted every 5–10 ballots, further complicating the process.

“We are facing difficulty in counting due to repeated disruptions. The main grievance is by Mr. Mudgal. We are not able to count,” the EC told the Court.

Earlier on May 23, the Court had directed the Election Committee to preserve CCTV footage of the polling process.

Additionally, a woman lawyer raised concerns regarding non-compliance with the Supreme Court’s previous directive on ensuring 33 per cent reservation for women in the SCBA Executive Committee. She argued that two seats must be reserved exclusively for women, even if women had already been elected on merit.

Justice Kant underscored the importance of election integrity: “Purity of elections can’t be compromised… Go for the recounting of votes. But don’t declare the results,

submit a report. Then we will take a call whether elections are to be… the only question is the manner of conduct of elections. Other things, we know how to deal with”, the bench said.

The EC informed the Court that while recounting for the President’s post would be conducted immediately, recounting for the executive committee members may require two to three additional days.

Allowing time and flexibility for the recount, the Bench said:

“Let it take four days. Our official will be there from the Registrar’s office. If any Election Committee member faces a personal difficulty, we will substitute them. But we can’t reconstitute the committee.”

When Senior Advocate Adish Aggarwala attempted to intervene, the bench said, “We are not entertaining this now. All grievances should be given in writing to the Election Committee. The Committee’s report will be placed before us. Then we will consider it.”

The matter will next be taken up after the submission of the EC’s report on the recount process.