Bar exam results for foreign law graduates: Indira Jaising calls for provisional enrolment amid delay, BCI says results may be out in 3-4 days

After Senior Advocate Indira Jaising flagged concern over the delay in notifying the results of the November 2020 qualifying bar exam for law graduates from foreign universities, Bar Council of India (BCI) Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra has indicated that the results are likely to be published in the next few days..Speaking to Bar & Bench, the BCI Chairman acknowledged the receipt of Jaising's letter sent over the issue. .The result is ready and likely to be published in 3-4 days, Mishra has said. He added that the delay was on account of several staff members of the BCI having been afflicted by COVID-19..In her April 11 letter, Senior Advocate Jaising had referred to several distress calls received from law graduates who have been waiting since last year to enrol as advocates under the Advocates Act of 1962. .Such foreign law graduates have to qualify an examination conducted by the BCI as a precondition for them to start practice in India, she noted. After enrolment, they are also expected to pass the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) within a year or two. .However, these exams were repeatedly postponed from May 2020 onwards, owing to the pandemic, she has noted. While the exam was finally held in November 2020, the results of the examination have not been declared, Jaising wrote. .Raising concern over this state of affairs, Jaising's letter further states, "This means that they cannot be enrolled and hence are deprived of their right to practice a profession guaranteed by the Constitution of India for an unduly prolonged period. The delay of enrolment has caused great mental worries to foreign law graduates and their parents who have spent huge amount of monies on their education abroad. They have lost one year in the process even though they have studied in prestigious universities. Many of them are holding LLM degree and some have qualified as Solicitor and Barrister. Some have also undergone conversion course for one or two years in the National Law Schools in India. Besides, I am given to understand that it has been very difficult for the foreign law graduates to fathom the new pattern of examination introduced this year without any model question paper to guide. As a result many seem to be seriously aggrieved.".To right this injustice, and in the event results cannot be declared immediately, Jaising had urged the BCI Chairman "to consider provisionally enrolling the foreign law graduates as Advocates immediately with such conditions as BCI deems fit and proper." ."There are about 150 law graduates in this situation of limbo waiting to start their professional practice and we as a profession own them an explanation and an opportunity to start their practice of law. These young people can add value to the profession and work in public interest, enhancing the pool of legal aid lawyers if need be or in other public spaces as qualified advocates. It is a shame to loss a valuable human resource in this manner. While making due allowance for the administrative difficulties we all face due to the pandemic, as an institution we need to rise to the occasion to support young lawyers", the letter stated further.