Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Vikas Singh has formally written a letter to Chief Justice of India (CJI) B.R. Gavai, raising serious concerns about the alleged encroachment by the Supreme Court Advocate-on-Record Association (SCAORA) into matters beyond its defined jurisdiction.
Vikas Singh, in his letter, highlighted the importance of maintaining “a unified voice within the bar” on issues affecting all Supreme Court lawyers. He emphasised that general matters relating to the Bar, including infrastructure and procedural aspects, strictly fall under the jurisdiction of the SCBA and not SCAORA.
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"Sir, I am placing these concerns on record to clarify the matter and ensure that the functioning of this institution remains coherent, disciplined and free from unnecessary overlaps or conflicts," Vikas Singh wrote.
Vikas Singh pointed to recent incidents where SCAORA issued communications on matters outside its jurisdiction, such as biometric entry, infrastructure and facilities for lawyers - he said these areas are exclusively handled by the SCBA. He pointed out that the SCBA is the premier body representing all Supreme Court lawyers.
According to Vikas Singh, the SCBA currently has 22,734 members, including 10,013 permanent and 12,309 temporary members, including 906 senior advocates, AoRs and about 19,000 non-AoR practitioners. Comparatively, while there are 3,786 registered AoRs in the Supreme Court, SCAORA has only about 3,000 members.
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"SCAORA does not even represent all the AoRs registered in the Supreme Court," Vikas Singh said.
He clarified that SCAORA's role should be limited only to matters pertaining to AoR practice, such as filing process, registry issues and other AoR-specific concerns.
A major concern raised in the letter was the communication written by SCAORA to the Secretary General of the Supreme Court on 02.06.2025 regarding biometric entry for lawyers, which was reportedly submitted on behalf of the entire bar. Singh vehemently stated that the SCBA was neither consulted nor agreed to the move.
"There is no question of members of the bar voluntarily providing such extensive personal information to the Supreme Court Registry," the letter reads.
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Vikas Singh also raised concerns about the risk of data privacy and security breaches, especially with the increasing reliance on digital infrastructure. He stressed that the existing proximity card system for lawyers is working smoothly and efficiently.
Significantly, Vikas Singh noted that in the case of Supreme Court Bar Association vs B.D. Kaushik, the Court had expressly acknowledged SCBA as the only court-attached bar association representing all members practising in the Supreme Court.
Vikas Singh submitted, "SCBA is the only recognised court-attached bar association in terms of the above judgment representing members regularly practising in the Supreme Court, and not SCAORA."
He concluded that while SCAORA is a part of SCBA and its members are entitled to voting rights under the "one-bar-one-vote" principle, it cannot act independently on broader bar-related issues.
