In an order which would have a positive impact on lawyers for registering themselves as advocates, the Supreme Court on Tuesday held that the fees charged by State Bar Councils and the Bar Council of India (BCI) for enrollment of lawyers cannot exceed the limit prescribed by the Advocates Act.
"Section 24(1)(f) of the Advocates Act lays down the fees that can be collected by State Bar Councils and BCI, which is ₹750 for general category candidates and ₹125 for Scheduled Castes (SC)/ Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates. It cannot exceed this limit," a two-judge Bench of the top court led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud said in the order.
The apex court delivered the judgment after hearing a petition challenging the high enrollment fees charged by various State Bar Councils including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
Today's apex court verdict won't be applicable prospectively which means any excess fees collected by State Bar Councils from lawyers until now need not be refunded.
The court, therefore, ordered BCI and State Bar Councils to ensure that the provision is not flouted under the garb of levying any other charges such as miscellaneous charges.
The petition claimed that some state bar councils even charged as much as Rs 40,000 as miscellaneous fees to register an advocate.
The apex court said this amounted to denial of opportunity to practice to lawyers who belong to poor, backward and marginalised sections of the population.