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Synopsis

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

BCD’s counsel 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”.

“Lordship! May consider taking these pleas after a week”, the counsel for BCD submitted.

The single-judge bench was hearing two pleas, one by Shannu Baghel, a practicing Advocate and another by a lawyer namely, Rajani Kumari, a resident of Bihar, who graduated from Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi 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.

While adjourning the matter, the court directed the BCD to file a short affidavit on the issue raised in the plea and posted the matter for further consideration on May 23, 2023.

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.”

It is to be noted that a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by a lawyer namely, Shannu Baghel before the Delhi High Court 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 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 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 states that BCD’s notification is also violative of Articles 14, 15, 16, and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India.

Notably, last month, another 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.

Through his plea, Kumar stated that the BCD’s notification published on April 13 creates an "arbitrary classification" between law graduates based on their residential address, which is a violation of Article 14. “Article 19 of the Constitution of India guarantees the right to freedom of speech and expression, the right to assemble peaceably, and the right to form associations or unions. The requirement of an Aadhaar Card and Voter ID Card with the address of Delhi or NCR imposes an unreasonable restriction on the exercise of these rights. It hinders the ability of law graduates from other states to join the legal profession in Delhi or NCR, and it limits their ability to form associations with other legal professionals in these areas”, the plea argued.

Case Title: Shannu Baghel v. Bar Council of Delhi & Anr. and Rajani Kumari v. BCD