The Supreme Court in the case Kuldeep Mishra vs. Bar Council Of Uttar Pradesh observed and has issued the notice on the writ petition moved by a law graduate challenging the enrollment fee charged by the Uttar Pradesh State Bar Council.
The bench comprising of CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra was hearing the petition.
It has been informed by the petitioner, appearing as party-in-person that the present fee cited by the State Bar Council is Rs. 16,665 for lawyers to be enrolled at the U.P Bar. Therefore, an additional sum for an amount of Rs. 5000/- would be charged for those wishing to expedite the processing within a single day. Thus, the petitioner challenged this fee as ‘exorbitant’.
When the bench headed by 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’.
It has also been prescribed that the Advocates Act of 1961 as stated under Section 24(1)(f) prescribes the enrollment fee payable to the State Bar Council as Rs. 600/- and the detailed chart on the state-wise fee chargeable by different bar councils can be accessed here.
The bench in the case observed and has agreed to issue notice and made it returnable within the period of 2 weeks.
The Supreme Court while hearing the another petition, had questioned the Bar Councils for charging the enrollment fee beyond the amount specified under the Advocates Act.
The bench in the case observed and has noted that the enrollment fee was non-uniform across various State. Thus, 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.
The Supreme Court in the case observed and has transferred to itself the petitions filed in various High Courts wherein it challenged the enrollment fee.
Accordingly, the court listed the matter for further consideration after the period of 2 weeks.