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Synopsis

The Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) on Monday informed the Delhi High Court that the recent notification mandating Aadhar Card and Voter ID address of Delhi NCR (National Capital Region) for future enrolments has been "withdrawn".

A division bench of CJ Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula noted, "The notification dated 13.04.2023 by which the Bar Council of Delhi had notified that the person who are not residents of Delhi/NCR will not be registered as an Advocate by the Bar Council of Delhi. Learned counsel for the BCD in open court has made a statement that the impugned notification has been withdrawn. In light of the aforesaid that the notification has been withdrawn by BCD, nothing survives in the present writ petition. The same stands disposed of".

During the hearing, the counsel for petitioner requested that such "withdrawal notification" be published on the official site of the Delhi Bar Council. 

To this, the counsel for BCD stated, "Lordship! We have already sent it for the approval of the Bar Council of India".

"Learned Counsel for the Bar Council of Delhi is further directed to notify the subsequent notification by which the earlier notification stands withdrawn", the bench ordered.

The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a lawyer namely, Shannu Baghel on May 2 to set aside the recent notification of the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) mandating Aadhar Card and Voter ID address of Delhi NCR (National Capital Region) for future enrolments. Baghel is a practicing Advocate in Delhi High Court and District Courts.

The impugned notification stated:

“...all those law Graduates, who wish to apply for Enrolment with the Bar Council of Delhi shall be required to attach copy of Aadhaar Card and Voter ID Card of Delhi/NCR (National Capital Region) along with their respective Application and other documents and the Aadhaar Card and Voter ID Card must bear the address of Delhi or NCR. Henceforth no enrolment shall be done without the copy of Aadhaar Card and Voter ID Card bearing the address of Delhi / NCR.”

The plea stated, “The impugned circular makes it mandatory upon the fresh graduates to have the Aadhar Card and Voter ID of the Delhi NCR region which is in contravention of the provisions of the Advocates Act and is discriminatory in nature being violative of the right to equality by creating a new class and artificial differentiation vis-a-vis the resident of Delhi and non-resident of Delhi for applying for the purpose of enrollment at Bar in Delhi”.

It had alleged that the impugned notification is violative of Section 15 (Power to make rules) of the Advocates Act 1961. It also alleged that the impugned notification had “no nexus” with the purpose of the Act of 1961. Furthermore, the plea stated that BCD’s notification was also violative of Articles 14, 15, 16, and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India.

Notably, In May the BCD had said that it will reconsider the recent notification mandating Aadhar Card and Voter ID address of Delhi NCR (National Capital Region) for future enrolments.

The BCD’s counsel had then told the single judge bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh that, “We are holding a full house meeting on May 12, where the impugned notification will be reconsidered”.

Case Title: Shannu Baghel v. Bar Council of Delhi & Anr.