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Synopsis

Greater representation of the marginalized communities in the legal profession will increase the diversity within the profession, enable the marginalized sections to trust the legal system and facilitate the delivery of legal aid and services to unrepresented communities, the Supreme Court has recently said.

CJI DY Chandrachud while noting marginalized sections of our society face insurmountable obstacles in navigating the Indian legal system, has said this is further compounded by their lack of representation in the legal profession.

"Social capital and networks play an important role in the Indian legal setup in advancing legal careers. Most litigation chambers hire advocates through networks and community linkages...", top court has added.

These remarks have been made by the top court while holding that State Bar Councils (SBCs) and Bar Council of India (BCI) cannot demand payment of fees other than the stipulated enrolment fee and stamp duty, if any, as a pre-condition to enrolment.

A bench of CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala has added that the SBCs cannot charge “enrolment fees” beyond the express legal stipulation under Section 24(1)(f) of the Advocates Act, 1961 as it currently stands.

In May last year, Supreme Court questioned as to how much Bar Councils across the country were collecting every year under the enrollment fees paid by lawyers seeking to enroll with them.

"You cannot charge more than what the statue says", the CJI had remarked then, while referring to the Advocates Act, 1961.

Last year the Supreme Court had issued notice to the Union Government, Bar Council of India and all state bar councils in the instant plea noting that it was a "significant issue".

Court was told that the charging of enrolment fees is a violation of Section 24(1) of the Advocates Act 1961 and that the BCI has the duty to ensure that exorbitant enrolment fees is not charged.

Bench further noted that in Odisha, an enrollment fee of Rs 42,100 was charged; in Gujarat it was Rs.25,000; in Uttarakhand Rs 23,650; and in Jharkhand it was Rs 21,460.

The petition added that this discouraged young aspiring lawyers who do not have the resources to pay such fees.

Case Title: Gaurav Kumar vs. Union of India