51.63% of candidates failed in AIBE 18 exam, reveals RTI reply

NEW DELHI: 51.63 percent of students failed in the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) 18 exam, revealed the data in an RTI reply. A total of 1,44,014 students appeared for the exam of which 69,646 were declared pass, the Bar Council of India (BCI) informed in its reply to an RTI application.

As per the response to a Right to Information filed by Shibu Babu, 1,48,781 students appeared for the exam held on December 10 last year. 74,368 candidates failed the test while over 4,700 were absent. BCI declared AIBE 18 result 2024 on March 26, 2024.

BCI informed that as per the rules, this exam is being conducted twice a year but owing to the situation created by COVID-19 pandemic, it could not be conducted as per schedule.

AIBE 18 highlights

Regarding the AIBE 18 answer key and result, BCI replied, “It is to further inform you that we would like to draw your attention to the notification dated 26.03.2024 wherein it was stated that after the withdrawal of 7 questions the result is based on 93 questions instead of 100 questions. Following this adjustment, the passing marks for the General OBC category have been calculated as 45 percent of 93 marks, rounding up to 42 marks. Similarly, for the SC ST disabled category, the passing marks have been calculated as 40 percent of 93 marks, rounding off to 37 marks.”

The council added that this decision was taken by the high-level monitoring committee after a careful consideration of all objections received from various candidates. Subsequently the decision was also approved by the council.

AIBE result, scorecard, pass percentages

When asked why candidates’ scores are not displayed in their AIBE scorecard, the council responded that the query doesn’t come under the information section of the RTI Act. “The Information Sought by you under this Para do not came under the definition of information section 2f RTI Act 2005 as you have sought why reason opinion in these para s in regard to AIBE,” it said.

The council also didn’t share any information on the pass percentages and failure rates of candidates in AIBE across 24 state bar councils. For the query, BCI drew the applicant’s attention to a decision of the Supreme Court in a case according to which a public authority is not required to furnish information which requires 'drawing of inferences and/or making of assumptions'.

“It is also not required to provide advice or opinion to an applicant nor required to obtain and furnish any opinion or advice to an applicant. The reference to opinion or advice in the definition of information in Section 2 f of the Act only refers to such material available in the records of the public authority. Many public authorities have, a public relation exercise, provide advice, guidance and opinion to the citizens. But that is purely voluntary and should not be confused with any obligation under the RTI Act,” BCI quoted the judgment.