Lawyers move Supreme Court challenging decision to cancel AoR exam for 2026

A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court challenging the top court's administrative decision to cancel the Advocate-on-Record (AoR) examination for the year 2026.

The petition has assailed the notification issued by the Registrar (Judicial) and Secretary to the Board of Examiners on April 30 which said that AoR examination will not be held this year.

The matter was mentioned on Monday before a Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi by Senior Advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu.

The Bench indicated that the matter was not urgent and would be listed for hearing in due course.

“They can appear next year also. We will see,” the CJI observed.

The petition was filed by lawyers who had not qualified the 2025 exam but were eligible to reappear in 2026.

As per their plea, the notification of the Court to cancel this year's exam departs from established practice and fails to disclose any statutory basis or material justification for skipping the examination cycle.

The petition was filed through advocate Mandeep Kalra.

As of May 4, 2026 a total 3,791 AoRs are registered with the Supreme Court.