Supreme Court junks plea against fee charged by BCI for holding AIBE

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea challenging the Rs 3,500 fee charged by the Bar Council of India for conducting the All India Bar Examination (AIBE). A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Sandeep Mehta observed BCI incurred huge expenses for conducting the exam and charging the fee was not violative of any provisions of the Constitution.

The top court had previously issued notice to the BCI on a plea filed by advocate Sanyam Gandhi. The bench noted Gandhi was asked by the court to first approach the BCI before coming to the court.

The plea had challenged BCI's fee structure for AIBE and contended BCI charged Rs 3,500 in addition to other incidental charges from General/OBC candidates and Rs 2,500 in addition to other incidental charges from Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe candidates.

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The plea, therefore, sought a prohibition against collecting such amounts in future and refund of amounts already collected as part of application process for the All India Bar Exam 2025 (AIBE-XIX). The petitioner argued the current fee system violated Article 14 (Right to Equality) and Article 19(1)(g) (Right to Practice Profession) of the Constitution of India, along with Section 24(1)(f) of the Advocates Act, 1961.