New Delhi, Nov 10: The Supreme Court on Monday signaled that all state bar council elections will now be conducted under the supervision of retired High Court judges to ensure transparency and fairness in the polling process.

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi observed that there exists a “trust deficit” with both the Bar Council of India (BCI) and the state bar councils. To restore confidence, the court said an independent election panel headed by retired High Court judges would be appointed in each state to oversee the elections.

Senior advocate and BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra informed the court that the council had no objections to retired judges being appointed to conduct the bar body elections.

“State bar council or bar association elections are among the most difficult elections on earth,” Justice Kant remarked, urging Mishra to notify election schedules for various states at the earliest.

Mishra added that elections for the Punjab and Haryana Bar Councils would be notified on Monday, and that notifications for seven other states would follow within the week.

Senior advocate Madhavi Divan, appearing for an intervener, alleged that certain court orders were being disregarded. She noted that while the Delhi Bar Council had announced its election dates on October 9, the BCI issued a notice the very next day dissolving the body.

Responding to this, Mishra claimed that certain parties wanted the BCI to be excluded from the election process so they could conduct the polls as they pleased.

The bench clarified that the BCI could not be removed from the process altogether. However, to ensure fairness, retired High Court judges would supervise the elections across all states.