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The PIL seeks 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.
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by a lawyer namely, Shannu Baghel before the Delhi High Court on Tuesday 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 plea states, “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 states that for many years young law graduates who come to Delhi from other parts of the country to pursue the noble profession of advocate were required to furnish the rental agreement for the purpose of residential proof in Delhi but the impugned circular mandates and dictates the fresh eligibility criteria, thereby creating a new class Delhi permanent resident and non-Delhi resident.
“Delhi is the National Capital of our country, being the Metro city is centric on the judicial system of the Country as the Apex court, High Court, and various National Tribunals are situated in Delhi, which attracts fresh law graduates from different parts of the country to pursue the profession herein”, the plea states.
It further states that various eminent jurists, advocates, and legal luminaries in the past have come to Delhi not as permanent residents but initially to pursue their education and further to opt for the legal profession vide being situated in Delhi.
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 alleges 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 states that BCD’s notification is also violative of Articles 14, 15, 16, and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India.
During the hearing today, Justice Prathiba M. Singh directed the counsel for BCD to file its response on the plea and posted the matter for hearing along with another similar case on May 8.
Notably, last month, a lawyer namely, Rajani Kumar, a resident of Bihar, who graduated from Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi filed a petition through Advocate Lalit Kumar challenging 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. Kumar seeks to apply for enrolment with the Bar Council of Delhi.
Case Title: Shannu Baghel v. Bar Council of Delhi and Anr.
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