The interim relief, initially sought by a few petitioners, was extended by Justice Aniruddha P. Mayee to cover all similarly affected graduates. The court emphasized that denying these students the opportunity to appear for AIBE 2024 would be unjust merely because they had not filed petitions.
Gujarat: The Gujarat High Court on Monday (21st Oct) issued an interim order directing the State Bar Council of Gujarat to grant provisional certificates for the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) 2024 to law graduates from government or grant-in-aid institutions in Gujarat.
These institutions, categorized as Centers of Legal Education (CLEs), had not received approval from the Bar Council of India due to non-payment of regularization fees.
BRIEF FACTS
The interim relief, initially sought by a few petitioners, was extended by Justice Aniruddha P. Mayee to cover all similarly affected graduates. The court emphasized that denying these students the opportunity to appear for AIBE 2024 would be unjust merely because they had not filed petitions.
“It would be unjust to law graduates who have not or could not approach this Court by filing writ petitions for similar relief and who would be denied the opportunity to appear in AIBE-2024. Therefore, this Court directs that the current interim order shall also apply to all similarly situated graduates who have completed their LL.B. degrees from Government or Grant-in-Aid CLEs in the State of Gujarat that have not been approved by the Bar Council of India due to noncompliance with the payment of regularization fees,” the Court stated in its order on October 21.
The court directed the Bar Council of Gujarat to accept enrollment forms from all eligible graduates from such CLEs, process them, and issue provisional practice certificates. This arrangement will remain in effect until a final decision is made in the ongoing petitions.
The petitioners were represented by Advocate Mitul Shelat, while the respondents were represented by Advocate Nidhi Vyas (AGP) and Senior Advocate Mehul Shah. Counsel for the petitioners argued that the petitioners had submitted their enrolment forms to the Bar Council of Gujarat, but these have not been processed.
As a result, without the issuance of a provisional certificate of practice, the petitioners would be unable to appear for AIBE-2024.
Senior Advocate Mehul S. Shah informed the court that the Bar Council of India, through a communication to its Advocate Manan Shah, had instructed that the petitioners be allowed to appear in AIBE-2024, pending the outcome of the present writ petitions. However, it was clarified that these cases should not be treated as precedent.
The Court directed the respondents to process the petitioners’ enrolment forms and issue provisional certificates of practice upon due verification in accordance with applicable rules, subject to the final outcome of the petitions.
The Court noted,
“This interim order is based on the concession made by the learned senior counsel representing the Bar Council of India, following instructions received by him.”
Consequently, the petitions were allowed.
Case Title: Saiyed Mahammad Juber Yunusbhai vs Bar Council of Gujarat
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