Kerala High Court directs BCI committee to conduct enrolment of new lawyers in Kerala

The Kerala High Court on Monday granted interim relief to fresh law graduates by directing the committee appointed by the Bar Council of India (BCI) to conduct the next enrolment session for lawyers in the State. [Stephen V Thomas v Bar Council of India & ors]..Enrolment of new lawyers had been stalled after the term of the last formed Bar Council of Kerala (BCK) had expired.During the hearing today, Justice N Nagaresh clarified that the pronouncements made earlier by a Division Bench of the Court with respect to the functioning of the BCK would not stand in the way of the BCI enrolment committee conducting the process.The Court further directed the committee to file a detailed report after the completion of the enrolment process. The matter will be heard next after a month..Standing counsel appearing for the enrolment committee informed the Court that applications for enrolment have already been invited, and that the process is proposed to be conducted on October 10 and 11..The Court passed the interim order on a plea moved by a 23-year-old law graduate named Stephen V Thomas, who completed his BA.LL.B degree from Christ (Deemed to be University), Bangalore in May 2025.Thomas, like many other law graduates, was eligible to enrol as an advocate under Section 24 of the Advocates Act, 1961. However, when he approached the Bar Council of Kerala in June 2025, he was informed that there was no clarity on the next enrolment session, since the Council's elected body had ceased to exist after its term expired on November 6, 2023. The six-month extension granted by the BCI had also ended on May 6, 2024..Although the BCI had granted an additional 18-month extension under the Certificate and Place of Practice (Verification) Rules, 2015, the Kerala High Court observed that such an extension was impermissible and that the BCK was functioning in violation of the Advocate's Act. A review petition in that matter is still pending consideration..Thomas submitted that due to the BCK's term being expired, fresh law graduates were unable to enrol and begin their legal practice in Kerala.He thus approached the Court seeking directions to the BCK and its enrolment committee to conduct enrolment within a specified timeline, or to direct the High Court to take over the process under Section 58 of the Act..The petition was filed through Advocates Thareeq Anver K, Vinod Ravindranath, Meena A, KC Kiran, MR Mini, Anish Antony Anathazhath, Nivedhitha Prem V, Ananthakrishnan A Kartha, Mariya Joseph and Ameera Jojo..[Read a live account of the hearing]