Fix date for enrolment of fresh law grads, HC directs Telangana State Bar Council

Hyderabad: The Telangana high court has directed authorities to speed up the enrolment of fresh advocates with the state bar council. Justice CV Bhaskar Reddy gave this direction after hearing pleas filed by three law graduates, who received their provisional certificates but found it difficult to enrol themselves as advocates with the Telangana State Bar Council.
The new law graduates — G Sai Teja of Nizamabad and G Radhika and R Daarvika of Secunderabad — filed the pleas before the court seeking directions to both Bar Council of India and Bar Council of Telangana. They brought to the notice of the court a circular issued by the State Bar Council, which halted the enrolment process from Aug 1, 2024. The state council cited a July 31 letter from the Bar Council of India to support its decision.
Nikunj Dugar, the counsel for the petitioners, said that the State Council has no power or authority to withhold the enrolment process. Even the process of issuing applications for enrolment cannot be stalled. The decision of the bar council enhancing the enrolment fee from 750 to 1,500 was also challenged before the Supreme Court, which reverted the fee to 750 again, he said. Now, the state bar councils have to commence the process without dodging the issue any further, he added.
Bar Council of India counsel Adesh Varma said that the issue was not pending with them as the central council had instructed the state councils on Aug 6 itself leaving it open for them to commence enrolment process in tune with the Supreme Court order.
GM Moinuddin, the counsel for the State Bar Council, said that they started the process from Aug 6. "We started issuing applications to the eligible advocates," he said. He, however, added that they sent the certificates to the universities concerned for verification.
"We will soon fix a date for enrolment in order of seniority," he said. The judge directed the authorities to expedite the process and fix a date for enrolment as soon as possible.