Tuesday, February 11th, 2025

You cannot charge high fees for registration as a lawyer… Supreme Court directs State Bar Council

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that the State Bar Council cannot charge more fees than the prescribed provision for registration of law graduates as lawyers. A fee of Rs 650 can be charged from the general category and Rs 125 from law graduates of SC/ST category. A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud of the Supreme Court said that the legal provisions made by the Parliament for registration of law graduates as lawyers under the Advocates Act cannot be disregarded.

A petition was filed in the apex court on this issue. The petitioner said that the State Bar Councils are charging high fees for registration. During the hearing on the case on April 10, the Supreme Court had issued notice to the Central Government, Bar Council of India and State Bar Council. The court had said that this is an important issue that has been raised, which we will hear. Now the bench headed by Chief Justice Chandrachud of the Supreme Court has given the verdict.

The Supreme Court said that under Section 24 of the Advocate Act 1961, the fee for registration as a lawyer for a law graduate is fixed at Rs 650 for the general category and if the Parliament wishes, it can increase it by making amendments. During the hearing, the court had said that the petitioner alleges that this fee is Rs 42,100 in Orissa, Rs 25,000 in Gujarat, Rs 23,650 in Uttarakhand and Rs 20,050 in Kerala. In such a situation, the youth who are unable to pay such fees are not able to get registered.

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