Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Feb 10: The Supreme Court upheld on Friday that the validity of the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) that law graduates are required to take to be allowed to practice before courts.
According to a Constitutional Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, AS Oka, Vikram Nath, and JK Maheshwari, the Bar Council of India (BCI) has sufficient authority to conduct the exam.
“We are thus of the opinion that while considering the questions referred to us, the only conclusion which can be laid is the judgment of this Court in V Sudeer on the powers of BCI cannot be sustained and we cannot hold that it lays down the correct position of law,” the bench added.
The Court stated regarding whether the AIBE should be held before to or after enrollment, “The effect of this would be that it is left to the BCI as to what stage the AIBE is to be held – pre or post enrolment. There are consequences which would arise in holding the AIBE in either scenario, and it is not for this Court to delve into them.”
The Bench further observed that, more frequently than not, a gap existed between completing a law school exam and the start of enrollment. The law graduate would be able to perform any legal-related responsibilities during this time, with the exception of representing clients or making arguments in court, it stated.
It also demanded that a suitable rule be drafted stating that an enrolled advocate who begins working in a non-legal setting for an extended length of time will be judged to be a new enrollee and will need to take the AIBE exam again.
“Even if a person has a law degree, it does not mean that his ability to asssst the court would continue with them if there are long hiatus period of time in some unconnected job.”
The Bench also called for uniformity in the charging of fee for the exam, since different State Bar Councils were charging different amounts.
On September 28, the Supreme Court announced that it had reserved its decision in a case challenging the legitimacy of an exam that law graduates must pass in order to practise in court.
