The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice in a plea challenging the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) Rules 2010 framed by Bar Council of India which mandates that an advocate has to qualify AIBE to practice law after enrollment.
A Bench headed by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, B.R Gavai and Krishna Murari heard the plea filed by a newly-enrolled advocate challenging the rule that the All India Bar Exam is a pre-condition to Advocates practicing in Indian courts.
During the hearing, the Bench noted that the issue was already pending before the Constitution Bench of the Apex Court. After the petitioner advocate questioned if AIBE can be conducted in January or March this year like it’s scheduled to, and if BCI has statutory powers to conduct the AIBE exams, the Court issued notice to the respondents returnable in three weeks.
The plea filed by Advocate Parthsarthi Mahesh Saraf through Advocate V.K. Biju has also challenged the new BCI notification issued on December 21, 2020 notifying January 24 and March 13 for holding AIBE exams.
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The petitioner also questioned the authority of BCI in imposing such additional conditions for practice and submitted that the question of whether the Bar Council of India has the power to prescribe qualification of a pre-enrollment or post-enrollment exam as a condition to practice has been referred to a Constitution Bench is still pending before the SC.