Kerala High Court's interim judgement on law graduates' enrolment fees contested by Bar Council of Kerala

The Kerala High Court's interim judgement instructing the Bar Council of Kerala (BCK) to provisionally accept petitioners' (certain law graduates') enrolment applications upon payment of the statutory provisions required minimum fee of Rs 750 has been contested by the Bar Council of Kerala (BCK).

The decision by a single judge bench was made on February 16 in response to a petition filed by 10 graduates of the 2019-22 batch from Government Law College, Ernakulam, who contested the state Bar Council's fee of Rs 15,900 stated a report by IANS.

The Bar Council argued before a division bench that there is no statutory prohibition on it from levying the necessary fees to satisfy the criteria of enrolment from the candidates in its appeal against the interim ruling. It added that because it is an autonomous body without outside funding or grants in aid and because it has expenses, it is compelled to charge for the services it provides.

State Bar Councils are authorised by law to specify the eligibility criteria and necessary financial requirements that law graduates seeking enrollment must meet as reported by IANS.

On these grounds, the BCK has now urged for setting aside the single judge order. Insisting on only collecting Rs 750 as enrolment fees would virtually stall the enrolment process, it argued.