Calcutta High Court seeks BCI response on plea to provide space to include mother’s details in advocate enrolment form

The Calcutta High Court on Monday sought responses from the Bar Council of India (BCI) and the Bar Council of West Bengal on a plea to make changes to advocate enrolment so that there is space to include the candidate's mother’s name/ details along with that of the father and the husband [Mrinalini Majumdar v Bar Council of India]..The plea contended that the current advocate enrolment form, which does not have option to include mother's details, was discriminatory towards candidates with single mothers and violative of his/ her fundamental rights. “A single mother’s child is also a citizen of this country, and no one can infringe any of his/her fundamental rights which are guaranteed,” the petition said.The plea was heard by a bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj which issued notice in the matter. The respondents were given four weeks to submit their response to the petition and the case was listed for further hearing on February 6, 2023..The petitioner, Mrinalini Majumdar claimed that the State Bar Council continued to depict an overpowering streak of patriarchy in today’s times by seeking only the details of the candidates father and husband.“It only goes to suggest that the sole yardstick for enrolling oneself as an advocate lies on the candidate’s paternal guardianship or marital status,” it was contended..The form refuses to grant a place to a candidate whose sole parental identification is mother, the plea pointed out. “Frankly it is shameful that we do not acknowledge the role and the importance of the matriarch in age apparently so advanced in all fields,” the petition further said..The plea also referred to a decision of the Kerala High Court wherein it was held that every person has the right to include their mother's name alone in their birth certificate and other documents.According to the petitioner, the exclusion of mother's name was violative of fundamental rights under Article 14, 19(g) and 21 of the Constitution.“Here the State Bar by not giving the liberty to the candidates from entering into this noble profession as without the enrolment certificate the candidate is not eligible to practice in any courts of law within the territory of India,” it was stated..The plea also informed the Court that a detailed representation was made to the BCI and State Bar Council in September this year to raise this issue but no response was received prompting the petitioner to approach the Court. .Along with the inclusion of a column for mother’s identification, the petitioner also sought directions to amend records of already enrolled advocates who wish to add their mother’s identification..Advocates Phiroze Edulji, M Majumdar and Pallavi Priyadarsheee appeared for the petitioner while the BCI was represented by advocate Avinash Kankari..[Read Order]