Court Should Not Interfere With State Bar Council's Timeline For Enrolment Of Advocates: Kerala High Court

The Bar Council of India after considering that a large number of people have enrolled with the Bar Council of India without a law degree or based on fake degrees has issued directions instructing mandatory verification of the degree certificate before enrollment.

It was stated that based on these instructions, the Bar Council of Kerala requires candidates to submit necessary documents at least 20 days before enrollment so that these documents can be verified. Many applicants who were either waiting for their result or provisional certificate approached the High Court to allow them to submit these documents after the cut-off date.

The Division Bench of Justice A. Muhamed Mustaque and Justice S. Manu rejected this petition saying that the candidates have the chance of applying in the future. It was held:

“We are therefore of the view that this Court should not interfere with the timeline fixed by the Bar Council for accepting applications, curing defects, or any other timeline specified in the notification. The Bar Council fixes the time schedule, keeping in mind the objectives to be achieved for verification of qualifications.”

The Court observed that the petitioners who submitted the documents after the cut-off date had already been allowed to enrol by an earlier direction of the Court. The Court said that the enrollment cannot be reversed at this point but it would be subject to the verification by the Bar Council.

Counsel for the Appellants: Senior Counsel Adv K. Jaju Babu, Advocates Rajit, M. U. Vijayalakshmi,

Counsel for the Respondents: Advocates Brijesh N. B., Balakrishnan N.

Case No: W. A. 1050 of 2024 and connected cases

Case Title: Bar Council of Kerala and Others v Unnikrishnan H. and Others

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Ker) 507