Taking measures to introduce digital methods in its functioning, Bar Council of Delhi tells Delhi High Court

Senior Advocate Ramesh Gupta, Chairman of Bar Council of Delhi today informed the Delhi High Court that all measures were being taken to introduce digital methods in its functioning. (Ananya Bajpai & Anr vs BCD).The statement was made before a Single Judge Bench of Justice Navin Chawla. .The Court was hearing a writ petition by two law graduates seeking a direction to the Bar Council of Delhi to accept their enrollment applications in electronic form..Delhi HC issues notice in law graduates plea for acceptance of online enrolment applications by Bar Council of Delhi.Senior Advocate Gupta stated that the Bar Council of Delhi itself was in favour of moving towards digitization and an Information Technology Committee had also been constitued. ."But we can't just do it.. It is not easy. We have to pass Rules. We can't simply pass a resolution. We are working on issuing e-certificates also", he added. .Senior Advocate Gupta stressed on the level of scrutiny required to identify "fake documents" given by applicants at times and said that some time would be required to establish the digital infrastructure. .He also stated that the Council was also willing to engage the national informatics centre. ."We are far behind.. I can assure sincerely that whatever possible, we will upgrade.", he said. .Appearing for the Petitioners, Advocate Abhijat stated that as long as the Council was making an endeavor to take the registration process online, he had no issues with the timeframe. .He also stated that he would suggest the names of some young tech-savy advocates to assist the Bar Council of Delhi. .Advocate Sanam Tripathi appeared with Advocate Abhijat. .The Petitioners before the High Court are Ananya Bajpai and Kartikeya Sharma, law graduates from National Law University, Jodhpur..It is the Petitioners' grievance that Bar Council of Delhi does not accept enrollment applications in electronic/online format and requires one to make multiple physical visits to its office or a bank for the purpose of purchasing the enrollment form, depositing the fees, and submitting the completed form..This process, Petitioners claim, is unreasonable, discriminatory and restrictive, particularly during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.. The matter would be heard next on February 22.