Law Graduates Move Kerala High Court Against Enrollments Being "Deferred Indefinitely"; State Bar Council To Meet On July 2

A group of law graduates from various law colleges of Kerala have approached the High Court with a plea to conduct enrolments as expeditiously as possible. 

The issue surfaces amidst the ongoing dispute as regards the enrolment fee to be collected by the Bar Council of Kerala (BCK), which in turn, has resulted in a delay in conducting enrolments to the Bar. 

The Kerala High Court had, on June 16, 2023, directed the Bar Council of Kerala to collect only Rs.750/- as enrolment fee from law graduates wishing to enrol, until the Bar Council of India (BCI) fixes a uniform fee structure as directed by the Supreme Court. The order was passed by a division bench of Chief Justice S V N Bhatti and Justice Basant Balaji in an appeal filed by the Bar Council of Kerala against the order of a Single Judge restricting the enrolment fee to Rs. 750/-.

The Single Judge Bench of Justice Shaji P Chaly had, on February 15, 2022, passed the interim order in view of the decision of the High Court in Koshy T. v. Bar Council of Kerala, Ernakulam and Another (2017 KHC 553) which had held that without being conferred any specific power under the statue, the Bar Council is not entitled to collect fee other than a fee of Rs.750/- prescribed under law. The Appeal by BCK averred that the said interim order had far reaching and debilitating effects, on the functioning of the BCK as a regulatory body and in particular on the functioning of the BCK in enrolling eligible persons as advocates on its rolls.

The present plea states that enrolments were being deferred indefinitely by the BCK and BCK had stopped the online registration scheduled to be conducted on March 20, 2023. The plea refers to direction of the Apex Court to bring uniformity in fixing enrolment fees by various state bar councils and states that this does not require any State Bar Council or the Bar Council of India to suspend enrolments that had already been scheduled. The SC had only recorded in its order that the non-uniform nature of the enrolment fees was affecting young lawyers who did not have the resources to pay exorbitant fees being charged by certain State Bar Councils, it is contended.

The petitioners allege that the BCK is deliberately delaying to schedule a meeting to take a decision on the fixation of the enrolment fees, while other State Bar Councils in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Delhi, Maharashtra and Goa had already conducted the scheduled enrolments. 

The petitioners aver that the non conduct of enrolment and the deferment of the same indefinitely on the ground of pendency of the writ appeal by the BCK would adversely affect the future and professional aspirations of the petitioners. 

"The 1st respondent who is bestowed with the responsibility to regulate and monitor and uplift the legal fraternity, is now obstructing these petitioners right to enrollment, right to livelihood, right to practice and right to carry on profession on their life," the plea states. 

The petitioners also submit that the despite submitting numerous representations in this regard before the BCK, the same had not been addressed. It is stated that the petitioners are willing to pay the enrolment fees, as said by the BCK. 

"It is very much necessary for the petitioners to get enrolled as an advocate at the earliest in order to search for good jobs like legal advisor, law officer etc. The actions/inactions on the part of the respondents in the matter of not conducting the enrollment as scheduled before which is highly arbitrary, unjust and illegal," the plea further states. 

When the matter was considered by the Single Judge Bench of Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan on Monday, the Court was informed by the BCK that a meeting would be convened on July 2, 2023 regarding this issue. 

The Court has thus posted the case for further consideration on July 4, 2023. 

The plea has been moved through Advocates Neethu Prem, Rahul Sasi, and Archana Vinod. 

Case Title: P. Ardra Menon & Ors. v. The Chairman, Bar Council Of Kerala & Anr.