'Can fee of needy aspiring lawyers writing all India bar exam waived?' SC asks BCI

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Bar Council of India about the presence of a scheme to waive off fee of poor LLB graduates who write the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) to enrol as lawyers. The top court was also critical of "phenomenally high fees” levied by the National Law Universities (NLUs) for their LLB courses and said the education system needed strengthening. A bench comprising Justices P S Narasimha and Atul S Chandurkar was hearing a plea filed by Kuldeep Mishra challenging the fees levied by the Bar Council of India (BCI) for taking up AIBE for enrolling law graduates as lawyers.

The AIBE application fee is Rs 3,500 for general and OBC candidates and Rs 2,500 for the scheduled caste and tribe candidates. The fees are non-refundable and must be paid online. “You cannot have a system which does not have any provision for the poor candidates,” the bench told the BCI counsel. It added, “You must have a provision to exempt fees to the needy people and this process should not be complicated.” The BCI was later asked to come prepared on the aspect after two weeks. Referring to the fees levied by NLUs, the bench said, “The fees of NLUs have gone phenomenally high.” “We need to strengthen our education system. People take loans for taking up LL.B courses and the fees are on the higher side,” Justice Narasimha said. The fee charged by NLUs for five-year LLB courses usually ranges from Rs 1.7 lakhs to Rs 4 lakhs per annum. Top NLUs like NLSIU Bangalore and NLU Delhi have higher fees compared to newer ones.