No person can enroll as an advocate after obtaining a degree in law from a college/institute not recognized by the Bar Council of India - Supreme Court

The Supreme Court in a recent order has held that the Bar Council of India is empowered to determine that no person can enroll as an advocate after obtaining a law degree from a college/institute not approved/ recognized by the Bar Council of India. Along with this, the Supreme Court has set aside the order of the Orissa High Court which said that the Bar Council of India cannot make it a condition for obtaining registration as an advocate that the college institution should be approved/ recognized by the Bar Council of India.The college/institution from which the applicant has obtained the law degree.                   According to the case, a person named Ravi Sahu had completed his bachelor's degree in law from Vivekananda Law College, Angul in 2009. Vivekananda Law College was not approved / recognized by the Bar Council of India. In 2011, when Ravi Sahu applied for registration as an advocate, the Orissa State Bar Council rejected his application saying that The college from where the applicant has obtained his Bachelor's degree in Law is not approved/recognized by the Bar Council of India. Ravi Sahoo challenged the rejection of the application by the Orissa State Bar Council in the Orissa High Court.                                                   The High Court observed that once an applicant fulfills the conditions laid down in Section 24(1) of the Advocates Act, 1961 and does not possess any of the disqualifications prescribed under Section 24A of the Advocate Act, such person is entitled to be registered as an advocate.  The court had ordered the Bar Council of Orissa to register the applicant as an advocate.                                                                       The High Court further held that the Bar Council cannot impose additional terms and conditions on an applicant to be enrolled as an advocate over and above those mentioned in Section 24 of the Advocates Act. The Bar Council of India challenged this order of the Orissa High Courme Court through a writ petition.                         The division bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sanjay Kumar referred to Section 49 read with Section 24 (3) d of the Advocate Act and said that the Bar Council of India is empowered to determine the terms and conditions of eligibility for registration as an advocate. Thus, the Orissa Bar Council did not err in rejecting the application of the applicant.It was, therefore, not proper for the High Court to direct the Bar Council to enroll the applicant Ravi Sahu as an advocate.Because the rules laid down by the Bar Council of India require an applicant to be registered as an advocate to be a graduate in law from a college approved/ recognized by the Bar council of India.                                                                        The court held that despite the fact that Ravi Sahu had obtained a bachelor's degree in law from a law college, he was not entitled to be registered as an advocate with the Bar Council as he had not obtained a degree approved by the Bar Council of India.