New Delhi, Nov. 19 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered an overhaul of long-delayed state bar council elections across the country, making it mandatory for all councils to complete polls in five phases ending April 30, and ruled only lawyers who have applied for verification of their law degrees are eligible to vote. In a significant intervention to clean up electoral delays and persistent concerns over fake degrees, a bench led by Chief Justice of India-designate Justice Surya Kant placed the entire exercise under the watch of high-powered committees headed by retired judges, with a national appellate panel whose decisions cannot be challenged before any high court. The bench, also comprising justices Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh, fixed a strict nationwide schedule, directing that the 16 State Bar Councils must conclude elections in Phase I by January 31; Phase II by February 28; Phase III by March 15; Phase IV by March 31; and the final phase by April 30. Bihar's process has concluded and counting in Chhattisgarh, already underway, must be completed within a month, the court noted. Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Manipur, where elections are not due, remain outside this schedule. Holding that delays spanning years had crippled the functioning of bar councils, the bench made it clear that no extension will be granted under any circumstance. The bench underscored the need to strengthen the verification of law degrees - an exercise often delayed by bar councils but essential, the court said, given the presence of fake entrants in the profession. Drawing an analogy with delimitation exercises, the bench said verification must continue in parallel; any lawyer who has applied for verification will be permitted to vote, subject to consequences if the degree is later found fraudulent....