Senior Advocate Pradeep Rai has been elected as the President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) for the 2026–27 term. He will succeed Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, who served as SCBA President during 2025–26.
Rai secured 822 votes, defeating his nearest rival, Senior Advocate Anupam Lal Das, who received 451 votes. He won the election by a margin of 371 votes.
SCBA Election 2026: Complete Presidential Vote Tally
The final vote tally for the post of President was:
Candidate
Votes
Pradeep Rai
822
Anupam Lal Das
451
Aadish Agarwalla
412
Gaurav Bhatia
370
Sukumar Pattjoshi
269
Siddharth Mridul
217
Mahalakshmi Pavani
128
The seven candidates together received 2,669 votes in the published presidential tally.
Other SCBA Office-Bearers Elected
Along with Rai, the following candidates were elected to key office-bearer positions:
- Vice-President: Senior Advocate Rahul Kaushik
- Hony. Secretary: Advocate Pragya Baghel
- Joint Secretary: Advocate Meenesh Dubey
The publicly available reports confirm the winners for these posts, although a complete, independently verified vote-by-vote tally for each of these positions is not presently available in the sources examined.
Pradeep Rai’s SCBA Experience
The election marks Rai’s return to the top leadership of the Supreme Court Bar Association. He previously served as SCBA Vice-President during the 2021–22 and 2022–23 terms.
Rai had also contested the SCBA presidential election in 2025 but was defeated by Senior Advocate Vikas Singh. He had contested alongside Senior Advocate Aadish Agarwalla in that election.
Before Vikas Singh, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal had served as President of the Supreme Court Bar Association.
Welfare of Advocates Among Key Election Issues
During his campaign for the 2026 election, Rai placed considerable emphasis on the welfare and professional interests of advocates.
Among the proposals associated with his campaign were a medical security cover of up to ₹50 lakh for SCBA members and merit-based scholarships for the children of SCBA members.
Rai had also spoken in favour of scrapping the existing sequencing system at the Supreme Court, making reform of case listing and access to the Court one of the significant issues during the election campaign.
SCBA Elections 2026 Amid Electoral Reforms
The 2026 SCBA election was held against the backdrop of electoral reforms concerning the Bar Association.
In April 2026, the Supreme Court passed directions concerning the conduct of the SCBA elections and the implementation of electoral reforms. The Court subsequently modified its earlier directions and deferred implementation of certain reforms to 2027, while directing that the SCBA elections be conducted around August 18.
The election process was therefore closely watched by members of the Supreme Court Bar.
Vikas Singh Hands Over Presidency to Pradeep Rai
With Rai’s election, the SCBA presidency passes from Senior Advocate Vikas Singh to another senior member of the Supreme Court Bar.
Rai’s term for 2026–27 is expected to focus on issues concerning advocates’ welfare, professional facilities, case listing and the relationship between the Bar and the Bench.
The election also gives the new executive committee an opportunity to pursue the welfare measures and institutional reforms highlighted during the campaign.