The Gujarat High Court today issued notice to the Bar Council of India (BCI) for the delayed schedule of the All India Bar Examination (AIBE), according to a Times of India “speednews” item directly filed by its local reporter:

“Gujarat HC has issued notice to the Bar council of India over delayed exam scheddule and providing provisional certificates to fresh lawyers for practice. A PIL filed by a new lawyer complained that delay in procedure on part of BCI affects lawyers’ career.” [sic]

According to the cause list, the public interest litigation (PIL) WPPIL 49/2013 was filed on 19 March by Harsh K Thakar, through advocate Jigna B Suchak. It was admitted today by a division bench of chief justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and justice JB Pardiwala.

Legally India was not able to reach the advocate or petitioner for comment at the time of going to press.

The BCI, when contacted today at the time of going to press, was not aware of the PIL and had not received a copy of the notice.

The BCI held the fourth AIBE on 9 December 2012 after an eleven month gap from the third AIBE, leaving 35,000-odd law graduates registered for the exam with only temporary permission to practice.

The BCI has also been running behind schedule in releasing the full results break-down of the December AIBE.

Updates to follow when available.