A student of the Tamil Nadu National Law University in Tiruchi has filed a writ petition in the Madras High Court against the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry’s (BCTNP) insistence that SC/ST law graduates be paid Rs 11,100 and others Have to do , ₹14,100 to get enrolled with the council before starting your practice.
Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) T. Raja and Justice D. Bharat Chakraborty directed BCTNP’s counsel MR Jothimian to take notice and file a reply by the second week of June. The judges ordered notice to the Bar Council of India (BCI) and the state government as the legality of such a demand was questioned, and petitioner’s counsel R.K. Allowed Algumani to take personal notice as well.
ACJ during the hearing Prima facie 23 year old Writ Petitioner R. Manimaran, BA, LLB, (Hons) fifth-year course, agrees that children from underprivileged sections of the society will find it difficult to pay the enrollment fees of ₹14,100 and ₹11,100. , He told the lawyer that one of his law clerks himself told him the enrollment fee was high.
The student said in his affidavit that when the annual tuition fee in government law colleges was not more than Rs 500, it was unjust on the part of BCTNP to demand such exorbitant fees from all the students without any concession. He said that children of sanitation workers, landless labourers, street vendors, small/marginal farmers etc. cannot afford to pay such a huge enrollment fee.
Referring to Section 24(1)(f) of the Advocates Act of 1961, the petitioner said, the law only requires payment of Rs 600 to BCTNP and Rs 150 to BCI, making a total of Rs 750 for enrollment fee. “But disregarding this provision, respondent No.3 (BCTNP) is demanding charges as high as Rs 14,100 and Rs 11,100. This has done a serious disservice to the legal profession in general and the concept of social justice in particular,” he said.
The law student also brought to the notice of the court that apart from the enrollment fee, the BCTNP also charges a special fee of Rs 10,000 for delay in enrollment for five to nine years after completion of law course, Rs 20.00 after 10 years. , Rs 30,000 for those aged 45 to 50, Rs 40,000 for law graduates aged 51 to 55, Rs 50,000 for those aged 56 to 60 and Rs 60,000 for those above 61 years.