The Supreme Court today said that it will refer the challenge to the All India Bar Exam (AIBE) to a larger Bench..A 3-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justices R Banumathi and UU Lalit asked the parties to the dispute to submit their suggestions to the court; these will be considered by the court to frame the issues of reference. The Court also asked Senior Advocate KK Venugopal to assist the court in the matter..When the matter was taken up today as item 36 in court 1, all the petitioners were present including BCI Chairman, Manan Kumar Mishra..Chief Justice Thakur then said the court wants to refer the case to a larger Bench, so that the issue is settled once and for all..“Mr. Mishra, we want to settle this controversy regarding pre-enrollment training and post enrollment exam. If an amendment to the Act is needed, we will recommend that”, said Thakur J..The Court also said that it will request Senior Advocates KK Venugopal and Fali Nariman to assist the court. Once it was noticed that Venugopal was present in the court, the Bench proceeded to explain the case to him. He was then asked to give his suggestions so that it could frame the issues of reference based on those..Chief Justice Thakur also expressed his concern for the state of the legal profession when he remarked in jest that,.“It is time that we start introspection. It will help BCI also Mr. Mishra. Some lawyers are now agitating, some are fighting, some are stoning, only a few are arguing.”.The Court then adjourned the matter for a week after directing the parties and KK Venugopal to submit the issues, which can be considered by a larger Bench..When the case was last heard, the Court had made it clear that it is not averse to having an exam but only wants to examine if the existing system is within the confines of law, and if not, seek to strengthen it.
The Supreme Court today said that it will refer the challenge to the All India Bar Exam (AIBE) to a larger Bench..A 3-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justices R Banumathi and UU Lalit asked the parties to the dispute to submit their suggestions to the court; these will be considered by the court to frame the issues of reference. The Court also asked Senior Advocate KK Venugopal to assist the court in the matter..When the matter was taken up today as item 36 in court 1, all the petitioners were present including BCI Chairman, Manan Kumar Mishra..Chief Justice Thakur then said the court wants to refer the case to a larger Bench, so that the issue is settled once and for all..“Mr. Mishra, we want to settle this controversy regarding pre-enrollment training and post enrollment exam. If an amendment to the Act is needed, we will recommend that”, said Thakur J..The Court also said that it will request Senior Advocates KK Venugopal and Fali Nariman to assist the court. Once it was noticed that Venugopal was present in the court, the Bench proceeded to explain the case to him. He was then asked to give his suggestions so that it could frame the issues of reference based on those..Chief Justice Thakur also expressed his concern for the state of the legal profession when he remarked in jest that,.“It is time that we start introspection. It will help BCI also Mr. Mishra. Some lawyers are now agitating, some are fighting, some are stoning, only a few are arguing.”.The Court then adjourned the matter for a week after directing the parties and KK Venugopal to submit the issues, which can be considered by a larger Bench..When the case was last heard, the Court had made it clear that it is not averse to having an exam but only wants to examine if the existing system is within the confines of law, and if not, seek to strengthen it.
