HC seek response from Bar Council of India over enrollment of fresh lawyers

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court today sought responses from the Bar Council of India and the Bar Council of Delhi on a PIL seeking setting aside of a notification barring fresh law graduates of DU from being enrolled as lawyers.

"Issue notice to the respondents (BCI and BCD). The matter be posted for hearing on November 5," the bench comprising Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice R S Endlaw said.

The court was hearing the PIL filed by Vijay Kumar Chaurasia, Assistant Professor at Law Centre-II in the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, on the issue.

Chaurasia, during the brief hearing, said that law students, who took admission in 2011 and graduated in 2014 from DU's Law Centres, have "wrongfully and illegally" been denied enrollment as advocates.

A BCI letter, issued on September 23, to BCD, other state Bar Councils and to the DU's Vice Chancellor declared that in the absence of extension of approval of affiliation of Law Centres here, the students, admitted in the sessions 2011-12 onward and passed out from the academic year 2013-14, are not eligible for enrollment as advocates.

"The letter issued by Respondent-1 (BCI) is arbitrary in nature as it is retrospective in nature violating fundamental rights of such innocent students," the petition said.

It also alleged the BCD cannot revoke the approval of affiliation of DU's three Law Centres without an "adverse report of inspection".

"BCI has revoked the approval of affiliation only on the ground that Law Centres, University of Delhi, did not comply with the order issued by it," the petition said.

It said that such a direction, revoking the approval of affiliation of all Law Centres of University of Delhi is without proper procedure of physical inspection as mentioned in the Inspection Manual 2010, which has been framed by BCI, itself in the year 2010.

It has also sought a direction to the BCI and the BCD to pay Rs 5 lakh each as compensation to law graduates who have been wrongfully denied enrollment as advocates.