Supreme Court Issues Notice On Law Graduate's Petition Challenging Enrollment Fee Charged By UP Bar Council

The petitioner, appearing as party-in-person, told a Bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra that the present fee cited by the State Bar Council is Rs. 16,665 for lawyers to be enrolled at the U.P Bar.  An additional sum of Rs. 5000/- would be charged for those wishing to expedite the processing within a single day. The petitioner challenged this fee as "exorbitant".

When the CJI asked the petitioner, who graduated in Law from the Banaras Hindu University, as to the ideal amount, he replied, “Rs. 750 as per the Advocates Act”.

The Advocates Act of 1961 under S. 24(1)(f) prescribes the enrollment fee payable to the State Bar Council as Rs. 600/-. A detailed chart on the state-wise fee chargeable by different bar councils can be accessed here.

The bench agreed to issue notice and made it returnable in 2 weeks.

On a previous occasion, the Supreme Court, while hearing another petition, had questioned the Bar Councils for charging the enrollment fee beyond the amount specified under the Advocates Act. The bench noted that the enrollment fee was non-uniform across various States. For example,  in Odisha, it is Rs 42,100; in Gujarat, it is Rs.25,000; in Uttarakhand, it is Rs 23,650; in Jharkhand, it is Rs 21,460; in Kerala, it is Rs.20,000. Last year, the Supreme Court had transferred to itself the petitions filed in various High Courts challenging the enrollment fee.

Case Details: KULDEEP MISHRA vs. BAR COUNCIL OF UTTAR PRADESH W.P.(C) No. 000024 - / 2024