Bar Councils Cannot Charge Fees To Verify Certificates Of Enrollment Applicants : Kerala High Court

The Division Bench of Justice Ziyad Rahman A. A. and Justice P. V. Balakrishnan noted that the Supreme Court in its earlier decision had directed the Universities and Exam Boards to verify the certificates without charging any fees. As per this decision, the requisition to get the certificates verified should be done by the respective State Bar Councils.

The High Court also took into consideration another decision of the Supreme Court by which it was held that the Bar Councils cannot charge more than the enrolment fee prescribed in Section 24 (1)(f) of the Advocates Act at the time of enrolment.

The Advocates Act of 1961 under S. 24(1)(f) prescribes the enrolment fee payable to the State Bar Council as Rs. 600/- and Rs 150/- towards the Bar Council of India for advocates belonging to the general category. For advocates belonging to SC/ST categories, the amounts are Rs.100 and Rs.25 respectively.

The petitioner challenged an order of the Single Bench of the High Court which permitted him to be enrolled in the next enrollment to be conducted by the Bar Council of Kerala subject to the condition that the petitioner produces receipt for the fees paid him to get his SSLC, Plus Two, Degree and LLB certificates verified by the concerned Authorities and University. The petitioner challenged this condition saying that it is against the direction of the Supreme Court.

The Bar Council of Kerala submitted before the Court that the Bar Council of India had issued a notice asking the State Bar Council to charge a sum of Rs. 2500 for verification of an applicant's certificate at the time of collection of enrollment fees.

The High Court however held that in light of the Supreme Court decision, the notice of BCI could not be implemented.

The Court directed the Bar Council of Kerala to verify the petitioner's certificate without charging any fees.

"in the light of Ext.P8 order passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court, there is an obligation on the part of the Universities and Examination Boards to verify the genuineness of the educational certificate without charging any fee for the purpose of verification. It is also discernible from the observations that the requisitions for verification are to be submitted by the Bar Council only. Therefore, there is a duty cast upon the Bar Council to get the certificates of the applicant verified by the concerned Boards and Universities, without charging any fees. Therefore, Annexure R1(a), to the extent stipulates the collection of fees of Rs.2,500/- for verification, cannot be implemented."

The Court was informed by the State Bar Council that it may not be possible to verify the applicant's certificate before the next enrollment date which was on 5^th January. The Court directed the Bar Council to permit the petitioner's enrollment. The Court said the Council can take appropriate action at a later stage if any issue arises during the verification of petitioner's certificate.

Counsel for the Petitioner: Advocates Aslam K. K., Akshai M. Sivan, Astel Joseph, Avanthika R., Muhammed Abdul Basith E. A., Roy Antony

Counsel for the Respondents: Advocates M. U. Vijayalakshmi, K. Jaju Babu (Sr.)

Case No: WA 2153/ 2024

Case Title: Alan Benny v Bar Council of Kerala and Another

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Ker) 1