SC: Mishra’s BCI chair tenure ends with elections

The Supreme Court questioned the continued tenure of Bar Council of India (BCI) chairman Manan Kumar Mishra, ruling that his extension in the post cannot be considered a mandate to serve until 2030. The bench, consisting of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, heard petitions challenging Mishra's prolonged tenure and called for fresh elections to reconstitute the BCI.

Mishra, who is also a BJP Rajya Sabha MP, was only a pro tem chairman until the freshly constituted BCI elects its office-bearers. The court emphasized that his tenure was co-terminus with the election of a newly constituted BCI, rather than being democratically elected. The court's intervention came after arguments challenging a 2025 notification extending Mishra's tenure until April 2030, which petitioners argued violated Rule 12(2) of the BCI Rules that prescribes a two-year tenure for the chairman and vice chairman.