Jahanvi Agarwal
On 16th May 2024, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal was elected as the new President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA). Sibal garnered 1,066 votes, defeating his closest competitor, Senior Counsel Pradeep Rai, who received 689 votes.
This marks Sibal’s return to the presidency after serving in 2001-02, 1997-98 and 1995-96 . Advocate Sibal has clearly taken a significant lead.
Advocate Rachana Srivastava was elected as the Vice President with 816 votes, narrowly defeating Sukumar Pattjoshi, who secured 784 votes.
Here are the vote counts for the six candidates who ran for the SCBA president position:
- Kapil Sibal: 1,066
- Pradeep Kumar Rai: 689
- Adish Aggarwala: Votes pending update
- Priya Hingorani: Votes pending update
- Neeraj Srivastava: Votes pending update
- Tripurari Ray: Votes pending update
Kapil Sibal, a Harvard Law School alumnus, served as the Additional Solicitor General of India from 1989 to 1990 and was designated as a Senior Advocate in 1983. also served as a Minister in the Congress-led UPA government.
Upon Sibal’s election as the SCBA President, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh commented, “Kapil Sibal has just been elected as president of the Supreme Court Bar Association by a landslide. This is a big win for liberal, secular, democratic, and progressive forces.”
Ramesh added, “This is also, in the outgoing PM’s words, a trailer for the changes that will happen very soon nationally. The soon-to-be former regime’s legal drumbeaters and cheerleaders must be shocked.”