In a writ petition filed before the Karnataka High Court to direct the Karnataka State Bar Council to enrol the petitioner as an advocate on its rolls, a Single Judge Bench of Justice Suraj Govindaraj issued mandamus to the Karnataka State Bar Council to enrol the petitioner as an advocate on its roll on the next enrolment date.
The petitioner applied to be enrolled as an advocate with the Karnataka State Bar Council, but the application was rejected on the grounds that the petitioner had completed his Law degree outside Karnataka.
Upon being enquired as to whether there was any restriction on such enrolment, the Bar Council of India (BCI) submitted that there was no such restriction and that any person who had passed out of any law college across the country could be registered with the State Bar Council as per Section 24 of the Advocates Act, 1961. BCI also confirmed that the college from which the petitioner had graduated was affiliated with BCI.
Thus, the Court allowed the writ petition and issued mandamus to the Karnataka State Bar Council to enrol the petitioner as an advocate on its roll on the next enrolment date and directed it to consider applications filed by students who had completed law in any other State, as long as the verification process of the certificate issued is appropriately done.
Appearances:
For Petitioner – Mr. Vaibhav Ravi Malimath
For Respondents – Ms. Anubha Srivastava, Mr. T.P. Vivekananda
