The Delhi High Court today ordered Bar Council of India (BCI) to issue the Standard Operating Procedure for physical conduct of the All India Bar Exam (AIBE) on January 24, 2021, amid COVID-19 pandemic.
A Single Judge Bench of Justice Prateek Jalan directed BCI to issue the SOP at least one week prior to the exam.
The Court was hearing a petition preferred by Advocate Purav Middha for conduct of this year's AIBE through online mode.
Last year, in response to the petition, the BCI had informed the Court that it was not feasible to hold AIBE through online mode.
BCI rejected the option of conducting AIBE through online mode on the ground that most lawyers did not stay in metro cities or in even class-1 cities and would thus face issues with respect to internet speed and connectivity.
Today, Advocate Preet Pal Singh informed the Court that AIBE was scheduled to take place on January 24 through offline mode.
He also reiterated that the period ranging from March 24, 2020 to March 31, 2021 stood excluded from the two-year period within which an advocate was mandated to clear AIBE.
In view of the BCI's stand, Petitioner-in-person, Middha submitted that his petition would stand satisfied if the lawyers' body issued an SOP in view of the COVID-19 situation.
The petition was thus disposed of with a direction to BCI to issue the required SOP.
