New Delhi: Days before the All-India Bar Examination (AIBE) scheduled for November 30, the Supreme Court has refused to entertain a plea challenging the Bar Council of India’s requirement that Indian citizens with foreign law degrees must clear the AIBE to practise law in the country, even after completing a two-year bridge course.
A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta dismissed the petition filed by Saanil Patnayak, a Brunel University graduate, after noting that he had already approached the Delhi High Court seeking similar relief.
Patnayak had completed the mandatory bridge course offered by the India International University of Legal Education and Research (IIULER), Goa. In his plea, he argued that forcing candidates to take yet another exam lacked statutory backing and created an unnecessary duplication of testing, since both the bridge course and the AIBE assessed competence to practise law.
He also pointed out that the Karnataka High Court had held that no additional exam was required once a candidate completed the bridge course, while the Delhi High Court took the contrary stance—resulting in directly conflicting rulings for similarly placed candidates.
The Bar Council of India informed the Supreme Court that the petitioner had previously moved the Delhi High Court but later withdrew the case after the council clarified that candidates who clear the qualifying exam would receive provisional enrolment. This would allow them to begin legal practice even before attempting the AIBE.
The BCI further submitted that the Delhi High Court’s order affirming this position was not challenged before the Supreme Court when notice was initially issued in the present case.
With the plea dismissed, the existing requirement remains unchanged for foreign law graduates seeking to practise in India.
