India, Jan. 28 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a PIL seeking reservation for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe lawyers in the State Bar councils.

Observing that the plea had been filed belatedly after the election process had already been set in motion, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices R Mahadevan and Joymalya Bagchi said it was too late to seek such representation for the ongoing polls. During the hearing, the counsels for the petitioners relied on the Supreme Court's earlier order mandating representation for women lawyers in the State Bar councils.

The counsels for the petitioners, including Ram Kumar Gautam, argued that the orders on women lawyers' representation in the State Bar councils were ...