Supreme Court asks the Attorney General to consider raising the 25-member cap on State Bar Councils

1 October 2026

A Supreme Court bench of Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana requested Attorney General R. Venkataramani to consider a plea to increase the statutory strength of State Bar Councils.
Section 3(2)(b) of the Advocates Act, 1961 caps the elected strength of a State Bar Council at 25 members where the electorate exceeds 10,000 advocates.
The petitioner, advocate Rohit Pandey, argued that the cap has not kept pace with the manifold increase in the electorate, pointing to the Bar Council of Delhi with about two lakh registered advocates.
Pandey polled 2,259 votes in the Delhi Bar Council election but did not win one of the 25 seats, while a woman candidate with 265 votes was elected under the mechanism adopted to implement the Court's direction reserving 30 per cent of seats for women.
Justice Bagchi said the Court was aware of the judicial limitation, which was why it was requesting the Attorney General.
The petition is Rohit Pandey versus Union of India, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1218 of 2026.