On Thursday, the Supreme Court mandated the enforcement of a minimum 1/3rd women's representation in the Supreme Court Bar Association's positions, including upcoming elections.
During the 2024-25 elections, the position of Treasurer of the SCBA must be designated for a female candidate, according to the Court's ruling.
The bench, consisting of Justice Surya Kant & Justice KV Viswanathan, ordered that in the upcoming elections for 2024-25, the position of Treasurer of the Supreme Court Bar Association shall be exclusively reserved for women.
The Supreme Court has mandated that one office bearer position of the SCBA must be exclusively reserved for women in rotation. The Treasurer's position for the 2024-25 elections will be the first under this rotational reservation.
The court has mandated that there should be a minimum of one-third representation of women in both the junior executive committee (3 out of 9 members) and the senior executive committee (2 out of 6 members) of the SCBA. The court has also ordered that the elections for the 2024-25 term must take place on May 16, 2024. Vote counting will begin on May 18, 2024, with the results being declared on May 19, 2024. It should be noted that the current committee's term will end on May 18, 2024.
During the Special General Body meeting held on April 30, eight resolutions were proposed to introduce reforms such as changes to candidate eligibility criteria, adjustments in membership admission fees and candidate deposit fees, and reconsideration of the four-term limit for holding an SCBA post. However, the Court has mentioned that none of these resolutions were approved.
The Court noted that the norms, eligibility criteria, fees, & other aspects of the SCBA cannot remain unchanged for extended periods, emphasizing the necessity for timely reforms. Accordingly, the Court directed the executive committee of the SCBA to solicit suggestions from all bar members, including issuing a public notice on its website.
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