In a significant push toward gender representation in the legal profession, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Bar Council of India (BCI) to take steps to ensure 30 percent reservation for women in the upcoming state bar council elections.

The direction came during a hearing on petitions filed by advocates Yogamaya M.G. and Shehla Chaudhary, who sought mandatory reservation of one-third seats for women in all state bar councils and a rotational reservation for at least one office-bearer post.

Appearing for the BCI, senior advocate Gurukumar informed a bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi that amendments to the Advocates Act may be required to formally implement such a reservation policy. He also pointed out that election procedures in several states had

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