Gujarat High Court allows woman whose enrolment application was kept pending for one year to take Bar Exam as interim measure

On Friday, the Gujarat High Court allowed a law graduate whose application for enrolment was kept pending for over a year to take the upcoming All India Bar Examination. (Shivi Ravi Agrawal v. Bar Council of India).Taking note of the nearing examination, a Single Bench of Justice Vipul M Pancholi directed that the petitioner be permitted to take the same..However, the Court added, such direction was not to operate to create an equity in favour of the petitioner.."..the petitioner is permitted to appear in the said examination without prejudice to the rights and contentions of both the parties. However, result of the petitioner shall not be declared, till the final disposal of this petition and no equity will be created in favour of the petitioner merely because she is permitted to appear in the examination. The above arrangement is subject to the final outcome of the present petition," the Court said..The Court was hearing a petition filed by one Shivi Ravi Agrawal challenging the State Bar Council’s failure to process her application for enrolment. The State Bar Council’s failure was a contravention of a Bar Council of India Resolution, she avered, which required State Bar Councils to enrol applicants on a provisional basis within 20 days..She asserted that she has already been allotted an enrolment number, which the Gujarat Bar Council had recommended cancelling, in a communication to the Bar Council of India. Aggrieved, she approached the High Court..The Gujarat Bar Council has, however, opposed the writ petition..On Friday, the Court agreed that the matter merited consideration and a detailed hearing but considering the upcoming exam and the nearness of the date, the Court allowed her an interim relief of taking the test.While so doing, the Court emphasized that the petitioner’s result would be subject to the outcome of the writ petition and that her appearance in the examination was not to create an equity in her favour..On December 15, the Gujarat High Court had issued notice to the Bar Council of India and the Bar Council of Gujarat directing them to respond to the petition..Read the Order