On Tuesday, the Apex Court ruled that State Bar Councils cannot charge more than Rs 650 & Rs 125 for enrolling law graduates from general & SC-ST categories, respectively, as lawyers.
The Supreme Court held that the Bar Council of India (BCI) & the State Bar Councils, which are authorised under the Advocates Act to enrol law graduates as lawyers, cannot override the legal provisions which have been enacted by Parliament.
A bench comprising CJI D Y Chandrachud & Justice J B Pardiwala & Justice Manoj Misra had reserved its judgement on a batch of pleas challenging "exorbitant" fees being levied by state bar councils for the enrolling lawyers.
Referring to Section 24 of the Advocates Act, 1961, the bench said the fee for a law graduate to be enrolled as a lawyer is Rs 650 & Parliament alone can increase it by amending the law.
On April 10, the Supreme Court had issued notices to the Centre, the BCI & other state bar bodies on the pleas, stating they had raised a significant issue.
The pleas alleged that charging "exorbitant" enrolment fees violated the legal provision & the BCI must step in to ensure it was not done.
"For instance, the petitioner alleges that the enrolment fee is Rs 42,100 in Odisha, Rs 25,000 in Gujarat, Rs 23,650 in Uttarakhand, Rs 21,460 in Jharkhand & Rs 20,050 in Kerala," the Court had noted while issuing the notices.
It was said that such high fees effectively deny enrolment to young aspiring lawyers who do not have the necessary resources.
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