No transfer fee payable by lawyers shifting State Enrolment, rules Bombay HC

Recently, in a significant ruling reinforcing the rights of advocates under the Advocates Act, 1961, the Bombay High Court struck down the transfer fee levied by the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa for shifting the enrolment of lawyers from another State Bar Council to Maharashtra.

The Division Bench of Justice Suman Shyam and Justice Shyam Chandak held that the levy of such fees directly violates Section 18(1) of the Advocates Act, 1961. While referring to the case Gaurav Kumar v. Union of India, the Court observed, “By applying the ratio laid down in the decision of Gaurav Kumar to the facts of this case, the fee charged by the Respondent No. 1 for transfer of Petitioner’s enrollment cannot be held to be valid in the eyes of law. Therefore, the same is declared to be illegal on the ground of the same being in contravention of the mandate of Section 18(1) of the Act of 1961.”

The case stemmed from the application of the petitioner to shift his enrolment from the Uttar Pradesh Bar Council (2003) to the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa in 2013, when he relocated to Mumbai. However, he was directed to pay Rs. 15,405 as transfer fee, including charges to the Bar Councils of UP, Maharashtra & Goa, and the Bar Council of India. The amount was calculated retrospectively from his initial enrolment year.

The petitioner argued that Section 18 of the Advocates Act, 1961, mandates transfer without any fee and that the fee demand, based on a 2010 Resolution of the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa, was illegal.

The Court found the resolution to be without legal foundation and, while granting relief to the petitioner, made it clear that its ruling would operate prospectively, striking down the fee mechanism only insofar as it related to the collection of transfer fees.

Case Title: Devendra Nath Tripathi vs. Union of India & Ors

Case No:  Writ Petition No. 1549 Of 2017

Coram: Justice Suman Shyam and Justice Shyam C. Chandak

Advocate for Petitioner: Advs. Devendra Nath Tripathi, DV Saroj

Advocate for Respondent: Adv. Yogendra Rajgor