Supreme Court Decision on New Advocate Enrollment: The Supreme Court delivered a significant verdict regarding the enrollment of new advocates on Tuesday (July 30, 2024). The Supreme Court stated that state bar councils cannot charge more than the amount specified in the Advocates Act. Section 24 of the Act stipulates an enrollment fee of 750 rupees for the general category and 125 rupees for SC/ST, but each state’s bar council has been charging fees between 15,000 to 45,000 rupees.
The court stated that since the Parliament has fixed the enrollment fee, the bar councils cannot violate it. Section 24(1)(f) is a fiscal regulatory provision, and therefore it must be strictly adhered to. By imposing additional fees for enrollment, the state bar councils have created additional primary liabilities that are not related to any provisions of the Advocates Act.
‘Extra charges hinder the progress of the weaker sections’
The decision written by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud mentioned that collecting exorbitant fees as a prerequisite for enrollment, particularly from individuals belonging to weaker sections, creates barriers to advancing their profession. Since candidates have very little agency at the time of enrollment, they are compelled to meet the excessive demands made by the bar councils.
The decision will not apply to past cases
The court also stated that this decision will have only a prospective effect, meaning that bar councils are not required to refund the enrollment fees collected beyond the statutory amount until now. The court further clarified that bar councils are free to charge other fees for the work done for advocates but cannot collect them as enrollment fees.
This petition was being heard
A bench led by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, which included Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra, was deciding on a batch of petitions challenging the excessively high enrollment fees being charged by various state bar councils. The main petition on this issue is titled Gaurav Kumar vs. Union of India. This group of petitions raised a single question: whether charging exorbitant fees as enrollment fees is a violation of Section 24(1) of the Advocates Act, 1961.
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