Writ Petition (Civil) No. 577/2024 - Order Date 20-09-2024

Sep 21, 2026

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Record of proceedings in a Writ Petition (Civil) numbered 577/2024 filed by Nilay Rai and others against the Bar Council of India. The order concerns students’ eligibility to take the All-India Bar Examination (AIBE) in 2024, referencing a Constitution Bench judgment in Bar Council of India vs Bonnie Foi Law College. The Court issues directions on notice, registration, and the timing to prevent qualified final-year law students from being deprived of the opportunity to appear before the scheduled AIBE dates in November 2024.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Background and parties

Petition and notice directions

Reference to Bonnie Foi Law College judgment

Eligibility and scheduling for AIBE 2024

Eligibility criteria and proof requirement

Need for urgent rule framing

Registration and exam dates

WPC 577/2024 ITEM NO .25 COURT NO .1 SECTION X S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Writ Petition (Civil) No .577/2024 NILAY RAI & ORS . VERSUS BAR COUNCIL OF INDIA Petitioner(s) Respondent(s) (With IA No .204570/2024-EX-PARTE STAY) Date : 20-09-2024 This petition was called on for hearing today. CORAM : HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE HON'BLE MR . JUSTICE J .B . PARDIWALA HON'BLE MR . JUSTICE MANOJ MISRA For Petitioner(s) For Respondent(s) Mr . A Velan, AOR Mrs . Navpreet Kaur, Adv . Mr . Jagjeewan Singh Ranyal, Adv . Ms . Radhika Gautam, Adv . Mr . Anjul Dwivedi, Adv . UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following O R D E R 1 Issue notice, returnable in four weeks. 2 The proceedings under Article 32 of the Constitution of India have been initiated by final year students of law at Campus Law Centre and Law Centre I, Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. They are aggrieved by a notification dated 3 September 2024 under which final year law students of law are not Signature Not Verified Digitally signed by Chetan Kumar Date: 2024.09.23 16:23:54 IST Reason: 1 WPC 577/2024 allowed to take the All-India Bar Examination 1 2024. 3 A Constitution Bench of this Court delivered a judgment in Bar Council of India vs Bonnie Foi Law College and Others2 . While leaving the issue of the stage at which AIBE has to be conducted to the Bar Council of India, this Court proceeded to make certain observations about the exam itself. Specifically on the issue of eligibility, the Court had noted that a person may have to forego the opportunity to take the exam on account of nondeclaration of the result by their law college or university at the time when the exam is conducted. Consequently, such persons may be denied the opportunity to work in Court until the next exam cycle. Therefore, the Bench had remarked that a person would be allowed to take the AIBE as long as they could furnish proof of their eligibility to appear for the final semester of the final year of their law course. The relevant observations of the Constitution Bench are contained in paragraphs 45 to 48 of the opinion of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, which are reproduced below: “45 The effect of the view expressed by us would be that it has to be left to the Bar Council of India as to at what stage the All India Bar Examination has to be held — pre or post. There are consequences especially in respect of the interregnum period which would arise in holding the All India Bar Examination in either scenario, and it is not for this Court to delve into them but it would be appropriate to leave it to the Bar Council of India to look to the niceties of both situations. However, in view of larger ramifications we do consider it appropriate to delve into some, though not all of the aspects which may get involved in holding the All India Bar Examination, especially in view of some suggestions made by the Amicus Curiae. 46 We may take note of the fact that the All India Bar Examination is scheduled to be held twice in a year. It is necessary that this schedule should be strictly followed as otherwise the students with Law degrees would be left idling their time. 1 2 “AIBE” (2023) 7 SCC 756 WPC 577/2024 47 One of the questions which arose was whether only on passing the examination from a law university/college or obtaining such a degree should a person be eligible to take the All India Bar Examination? In India, the various recognised institutions providing Law degrees often declare results at different times. The concern is that a person on account of nondeclaration of result may lose out on the opportunity to appear in the All India Bar Examination leading to a fairly long hiatus period of time without having the opportunity to work in court proceedings. 48 We are inclined to accept the suggestion from the learned Amicus Curiae that students who have cleared all examinations to be elig

FAQs

What petition is this record of proceedings associated with?

It is a Writ Petition (Civil) No. 577/2024, titled Nilay Rai & Ors. versus Bar Council of India.

Which earlier judgment does the order rely on?

The order references a Constitution Bench judgment in Bar Council of India vs Bonnie Foi Law College and Others regarding the stage of holding the AIBE and eligibility considerations.

What directions are issued for AIBE 2024 regarding registration eligibility?

For the ensuing AIBE 2024, the Bar Council of India is directed to allow registration of students who fall within paragraph 48 of the Bonnie Foi judgment, i.e., qualified students to appear in the final semester of the final year examination in their law universities.

Sep 21, 2026

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