SC Orders 30% Women Representation in Bar Councils

By: Women Entrepreneurs Review Team | Wednesday, 5 August 2026

As an important step towards gender equality in the legal profession, the Supreme Court said stated that the State Bar Councils had become "men's clubs," and there was an immediate need to change their structure and governance. With regards to the monopoly in these institutions that cannot be sustained anymore, the Court asked the Chief Justices of the respective High Courts to appoint two women as co-opted members in each of the State Bar Councils.

The judgment was delivered by a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana while dealing with a batch of petitions concerning the conduct of elections to the Bar Council of India (BCI) and State Bar Councils.

Expressing concern over the functioning of Bar Councils, the Chief Justice remarked, "Bar Councils have become men's clubs. We may observe that people take it like a monopoly. This has to be completely dismantled."

Key Highlights:

• SC mandates two women co-opted members in every State Bar Council
• Women to receive 30% representation in State Bar Councils under SC framework
• SC orders review of vote transfer rules to strengthen women's representation

In the context of increasing women’s inclusivity and representation in the State Bar Councils, the Supreme Court has made it necessary for the induction of two women as co-opted members in each of the State Bar Councils.

"As far as co-option is concerned...10% we always had in mind. There should be co-option of those who don't have anything to do with elections," the Court observed.

In this regard, the Supreme Court has set certain conditions in terms of the eligibility of those two women. Specifically, the Supreme Court stated that one of them must be a former judge of the jurisdictional High Court and the other one must be a senior woman advocate having excellent reputation in the legal community.

Another notable interpretation of the law was when the Supreme Court ruled that a female candidate’s lack of success in being elected to the State Bar Council does not prevent her from becoming an appointed member of the Council.

In this regard, the Bench further directed the High-Level Monitoring Committee, headed by a former judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, to scrutinize the methodology followed in identifying the number of transferable votes, especially in cases where it impacts female candidates.

The Committee has been asked to conduct an all-round review of the process by seeking representations from the members of the Bar and giving them a chance to put forth their points in person before the committee through oral hearings.

Set up by the Supreme Court before, the Committee is mandated with the responsibility of supervising the conduct of elections to the Bar Council of India and State Bar Councils all over the country.

The essence of the entire process lies in the proper implementation of the reservation policy for women in State Bar Councils, where the provision states that there must be 30% representation of women. This policy indicates that two-thirds of the above-stated reservation, which constitutes 20% of all the seats, will be ensured through direct election. The remaining 10% of the seats will be filled by the co-option of women members who are qualified.