Plea Against AIBE Rs 3,500 Fee Dismissed by Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on 2 September dismissed a petition challenging the ₹3,500 fee and incidental charges fixed by the Bar Council of India (BCI) for the All India Bar Examination (AIBE). [Sanyam Gandhi v. Union of India and Anr.]

A bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Sandeep Mehta held that the earlier judgment in Gaurav Kumar v. Union of India, which restricted Bar Councils from charging more than ₹750 as enrolment fee, does not apply to the AIBE.

During the hearing in Sanyam Gandhi v. Union of India and Anr., Justice Pardiwala asked the petitioner why he was relying on the Gaurav Kumar ruling. Senior Advocate S. Gurukrishna Kumar, appearing for the BCI, clarified that the earlier judgment related only to enrolment under Section 24 of the Advocates Act, 1961, while the AIBE is a separate process involving substantial expenditure.

Agreeing with this argument, the Court dismissed the petition. In a lighter note, the bench told the petitioner, “Mr Gandhi, pay the ₹3,500 now. As a lawyer, you will earn ₹35 lakh… crore.”

The petition had been filed by advocate Sanyam Gandhi, who argued that the fee violated Articles 14 and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution and Section 24(1)(f) of the Advocates Act, as the earlier judgment had capped the fee at ₹750 for general category and ₹125 for SC/ST candidates.

Earlier, on 24 February, the Court had directed him to first approach the BCI with a representation and return to court only if the response was unsatisfactory.