Dismissed: CJI unimpressed with BCI plea to ban enrolment of lawyers older than 45

Wednesday, 12 November 2014 By Legally India Bar, Bench & Litigation

The Supreme Court Tuesday unequivocally rejected arguments by Bar Council of India (BCI) counsel Ardhendumauli Kumar Prasad to set an upper age limit for graduates to enrol as lawyers, reported the Indian Express.

The BCI had sought to a rule to prevent graduates older than 45 from enrolling as lawyers.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) HL Dattu and Justice A K Sikri showed little understanding for the petitions by a number of state bar councils, who had made such rules in order to “upkeep the professional standards and protect the interests of lawyers”, and “maintain the standards of education since several candidates used to get a law degree while continuing in other services, without formal or basic education”, according to the Express.

The state bar council’s appeals were quashed, with the bench saying: “How can this be done? Lot of people enrol as lawyers after retirement or after their resignation. In fact, I know about one person in Karnataka who was under suspension and he started practising law. He turned out to be one of the best lawyers in the state. These things do happen.”

Yesterday Legally India reported a new BCI regulations that will seek to ban new lawyers from practising in the apex court unless they three years of experience pracising in a high court, and two years in a trial court.

Comments

Wannabe AOR 12 Nov 2014, 07:21

+6 -1

It seems that the Bar Council wants to make practise of law a monopoly

LLB 12 Nov 2014, 07:25

+4 -1

Serious doubt over intelligence of learned advocates heading BCI.

RJPraj 13 Nov 2014, 06:17

+0 -0

Sir,i dont have literacy to understand this.please tell me is supreme court allowed anyone to register as advocate in any age,ie no age bar.

P.Rajan 13 Nov 2014, 12:32

Judgement is welcome as it puts an end to lot of confusions regarding the rights to practice by the lawyers above 45 years. Young lawyers will be putting in more efforts and serious in improving their legal knowledge and professional skils.

JRD 14 Nov 2014, 11:15

I have been in litigation for 22 years (in my own cases). I enrolled for my LLB 4 years back, when I was 63,and passed my LLB last year (June 2013) at the age of 66 (in minimum time possible of 3 years without failing in a single subject in all 6 exams i.e. no KTs)). I became a lawyer (Advocate) in end 2013 and passed my Bar exam (first attempt) in October 2014. In the next 4-5 years, I hope to change the way law is understood and practised in this country, something I believe none of the State Bar Councils nor the Bar Council of India have to able to do for 67 years since Independence. I am sure that there are others like me in India and so what I want to ask the BCI honchos is - What does age have to do with the profession of law? Or to put it more bluntly - Does the BCI have nothing better to do than to pick on someone's age?

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