Supreme Court - Daily Orders
M. Varadhan vs Union Of India on 16 February, 2026
ITEM NO.35 COURT NO.1 SECTION PIL-W
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No(s).1319/2023
M. VARADHAN Petitioner(s)
VERSUS
UNION OF INDIA & ORS. Respondent(s)
[ONLY IA No. 276937/2025 AND 45414/26 ARE LISTED UNDER THIS ITEM.]
IA No. 45414/2026 - EXTENSION OF TIME
IA No. 276937/2025 - INTERVENTION/IMPLEADMENT
Date : 16-02-2026 This matter was called on for hearing today.
CORAM : HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JOYMALYA BAGCHI
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE VIPUL M. PANCHOLI
For Petitioner(s) :Mrs. Madhavi Divan, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Aditya Kumar Choudhary, Adv.
Mr. M Vel Murugan, Adv.
Mr. Sandeep Pandey, Adv.
Mr. Aditya Anand Singh, Adv.
Mr. Amit Kumar Shahi, Adv.
Mr. Rajesh Singh Chauhan, AOR
For Respondent(s) :Ms. Radhika Gautam, AOR
Ms. Tatini Basu, AOR
Mr. Byrapaneni Suyodhan, Adv.
Mr. Kumar Shashank, Adv.
Ms. Obulapuram Keerthi, Adv.
Mr. T. Singhdev, Adv.
Mr. Prateek Bhatia, AOR
Ms. Yamini Singh, Adv.
Mr. Tanishq Srivastava, Adv.
Mr. Abhijit Chakravarty, Adv.
Mr. Vedant Sood, Adv.
Mrs. Sumita Ray, AOR
Ms. Disha Ray, Adv.
Ms. Vanshika Singh, Adv.
Signature Not Verified
Ms. Manisha Ambwani, AOR
Digitally signed by
ARJUN BISHT
Date: 2026.02.17
17:57:56 IST
Reason:
Mr. Manish Kumar Saran, AOR
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Mr. Sidhant Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Aditya Mani Saran, Adv.
Mr. H. Chandra Sekhar, AOR
Mr. Aljo K. Joseph, AOR
Mr. Rajnish Singh, Adv.
Mr. Rajesh Kumar, Adv.
Mr. N Leela Vara Prasad, Adv.
Mr. Virendra Mohan, Adv.
Mr. Siddharth Singh, Adv.
Mr. Vikas Upadhyay, AOR
Ms. Ankita Kashyap, Adv.
Mr. Ranveer Singh, Adv.
Mr. Shiva Narang, Adv.
Mr. Rajat Kapoor, Adv.
Dr. Arvind S. Avhad, AOR
Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, AOR
Mr. Karun Sharma, Adv.
Ms. Anupama Ngangom, Adv.
Ms. Rajkumari Divyasana, Adv.
Mr. Anshuman Singh, AOR
Ms. Raakhi Vats, Adv.
Mr. S. Prabakaran, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Maheswaran Prabakaran, Adv.
Dr. Ram Sankar, Adv.
Mr. Yusuf, AOR
Mr. D Bharat Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Aman Shukla, Adv.
Ms. Yatika Gupta, Adv.
Mr. M Chandrakanth Reddy, Adv.
Mr. Siddhartha Sinha, AOR
Mr. Vivek Narayan Sharma, AOR
Mr. Akash Singh, Adv.
Mrs. Mahima Bhardwaj Kalucha, Adv.
Mr. Akash Pratap Singh, Adv.
Mr. Rajeev Kumar Jha, Adv.
Mr. Biswajit Deb, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Anando Mukherjee, AOR
Mr. Shwetank Singh, Adv.
Ms. Riya Dhingra, Adv.
Mr. Utkarsh Anand, Adv.
Dr. Surender Singh Hooda, AOR
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Mr. Rahat Bansal, AOR
Mr. Sridhar Potaraju, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Arjun D. Singh, Adv.
Mr. Gaichangpou Gangmei, Adv.
Mr. Maitreya Mahaley, Adv.
Mr. Yimyanger Longkumer, Adv.
Ms. Niharika Singh, Adv.
Ms. Chamudeswari Pemmasani, Adv.
Ms. Arlene Noronha, Adv.
Mr. Kamei Bestman Kabui, Adv.
Mr. J. Prasad, Adv.
M/s AG Veritas Law, AOR
Mr. Anand Nandan, Adv.
Mr. Kuldeep Mishra, Adv.
Mr. Rameshwar Prasad Goyal, AOR
Mr. Abdul Qadir Abbasi, AOR
Mr. R. H. A. Sikander, AOR
Mr. Jatin Bhatt, Adv.
Mr. Sanawar, Adv.
Mr. Kshitij Singh, Adv.
Ms. Nujhat Naseem, Adv.
Mr. Kumail Abbas, Adv.
Mr. Chirag Verma, Adv.
Ms. K. R. Chitra, AOR
Mr. Javedur Rahman, AOR
Mr. Rajesh Singh, AOR
Mr. Hitesh Kumar Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Amit Kumar Chawla, Adv.
Mr. Akhileshwar Jha, Adv.
Mr. Mahi Pal Singh, Adv.
Ms. Shreya Jha, Adv.
Ms. Manisha Chawla, Adv.
Ms. Niharika Dwivedi, Adv.
Ms. Swati Vishan, Adv.
Mr. Saurabh Kumar Solanki, Adv.
Mr. Anupam Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Jogender Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Desh Pal Singh, Adv.
Mr. Dilip Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Sandeep Singh Dingra, Adv.
Mr. Shwetank Sailakwal, AOR
Ms. Kheyali Singh, AOR
Mr. Ankit Singh, Adv.
Mr. Shashank Singh, AOR
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Mr. Varun Bhati, Adv.
Mr. Milind Modi, Adv.
Mr. Bilal A Khan, Adv.
Ms. Neha Yadav, Adv.
Ms. Ankita Kashyap, Adv.
Mr. Ramkrishna Viraraghvan, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Narender Rao Thaneer, Adv.
Mr. D Dhananjay Kumar, Adv.
Mr. B Lakshmi Pallesh, Adv.
Ms. Akshada, Adv.
Mr. Ashutosh Srivastava, Adv.
Mr. Amol B. Karande, AOR
Mr. Sanchit Garga, AOR
Mr. Kunal Rana, Adv.
Mr. Shashwat Jaiswal, Adv.
Mr. Bhanu Pratap Singh, Adv.
Ms. Diksha Arora, Adv.
Mr. Varun Chugh, Adv.
Mr. Krishna Kant Dubey, Adv.
Mr. Bhuvan Kapoor, Adv.
Mr. Shreekant Neelappa Terdal, AOR
Mr. Achintya Kumar Banerjee, Adv.
Mr. Vishal Arun Mishra, AOR
Mr. Indumouli Banerjee, Adv.
Mr. A. N. Banerjee, Adv.
Mr. Ujjwal Bhardwaj, Adv.
Ms. Rupali Panwar, Adv.
Mr. Avinash Kumar Singh, Adv.
Ms. Vuzmal Nehru, Adv.
Mr. Wasim Rony, Adv.
Mr. Ravi Sehgal, Adv.
Ms. Roopali Lakhotia, AOR
Ms. Radhika Maharwal, Adv.
Mr. Adithya S Nair, Adv.
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
IA No.276937/2025 & IA No.45414/2026
1. Let these applications be placed for consideration of the High-Powered Supervisory Committee, headed by Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, former Judge of this Court, which came to be constituted by this Court vide order dated 18.11.2025. 4
2. The applications are disposed of accordingly. I.A. Nos.51587/2026 & 51517/2026
3. All other requests sought to be raised during the oral hearing may also be submitted for consideration of the Committee headed by Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia.
4. The applications are, accordingly, disposed of.
5. The Registry is directed not to entertain any application pertaining to the Bar Council of India election till such elections are over.
6. It goes without saying that the High-Powered Supervisory Committee will hear the Bar Council of India’s viewpoint also before passing any appropriate order.
7. Paragraph 2 of the order dated 04.02.2026, passed in I.A. No.26912/2026 and I.A. No.319251/2025, is modified. Since Justice Ravi Shanker Jha, former Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, has already been nominated as a Member of the High- Powered Supervisory Committee, he will not head the High-Powered Election Committee for the State of Madhya Pradesh. Instead, we appoint Hon’ble Justice Pritinker Diwaker, former Chief Justice of the High Court of Allahabad, as the Chairperson of the High-Powered Election Committee for conducting elections of the Bar Council of the State of Madhya Pradesh.
8. The Advocates, having any grievance, may firstly approach the High-Powered Election Committee constituted for their State Bar Council, and if still aggrieved, they shall be at liberty to approach the High-Powered Supervisory Committee, headed by Justice 5 Sudhanshu Dhulia.
9. All prayers for extension of time in conducting the election and/or for fixing the date of counting of votes shall also be determined by the State Level Committee constituted by this Court.
(ARJUN BISHT) (PREETHI T.C.)
ASTT. REGISTRAR-cum-PS ASSISTAN REGISTRAR
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