Madras High Court issues notice in plea against high enrollment fees for law grads charged by TN Bar Council

The Madras High Court on Monday issued notice in a plea by a fifth-year law student challenging the ₹11,000 enrolment fee charged by the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for law graduates, including those belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities [R Manimaran v. The Bar Council of India and 2 others]..A Bench of Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy said that it "agreed prima facie" that the amount was high. It then issued notice to the State Bar Council, the Bar Council of India and the Tamil Nadu government, and asked them to file their respective replies by the second week of June. .In his Public Interest Litigation (PIL), R Manimaran said that the State Bar Council was insisting that SC/ST candidates pay ₹11,100 and candidates belonging to the general category pay rupees ₹14,100 to get enrolled.Both amounts, he said, were exorbitant, and several candidates found it difficult to pay such enrollment fee. He also said that as per the Advocates Act, one was required to deposit only ₹750 as enrollment fee.The petitioner also told the Court that besides the enrolment fee, the State Bar Council also demands a 'special fee' ranging between ₹10,000 and ₹60,000 from those who wish to get enrolled after over five years since completing their law degrees.Manimaran's counsel also pointed out that Section 24(1)(e) says that State Bar Councils should charge ₹600 and the BCI, ₹150 as enrollment fees. The Section also says that candidates belonging to the SC and the ST communities are required to pay only ₹100 and ₹25 respectively..Advocate R Alagumani appeared for the petitioner.Advocate MR Jothimanian appeared for the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry..This is not the first time the issue has come up before the courts. In 2021, a group of law students had challenged the high exorbitatnt fees charged by the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa. While the Bombay High Court had at the time issued notices to BCI and the State Bar Council, the matter still awaits hearing..Earlier this year, the Kerala High Court had issued an interim order against the enrolment fee of ₹15,900 charged by the State Bar Council for prospective advocates. It had said at the time that the State Bar Council will not be permitted to collect an enrollment fee in excess of the ₹750 prescribed by law.The Punjab & Haryana High Court had disposed of a similar plea after the BCI assured the Court it will take necessary steps to deal with the issue of exorbitant enrolment fees charged by State Bar Councils..In April this year, a similar plea was moved before the Supreme Court, which had observed that State Bar Councils charging high enrollment fees was a "serious issue". The petitioner before the apex court argued that Bar Councils in states such as Kerala, Jharkhand, Odisha etc, charged exorbitant sums as enrollment fees and that the same was violative of one's fundamental right to equality as guaranteed by Article 14 of the Constitution.