The country’s top court has put its foot down—State Bar Councils and the Bar Council of India are not to demand a single rupee beyond the statutory enrolment fee, no matter how creatively it’s labelled.
A Bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan dismissed the idea of so-called “optional” payments, making it clear that such charges have no legal standing. “There is nothing like optional,” the judges declared, adding that all councils must stick strictly to the Court’s earlier directives.
Karnataka’s State Bar Council came under particular fire after the court was told it levies ₹6,800 and ₹25,000 for ID cards, certificates, welfare funds and training—charges it claimed were voluntary. The Bench wasn’t convinced, ordering the immediate halt of any such collections.
The warning came during contempt proceedings initiated by advocate KLJA Kiran Babu, who alleged that several State Bar Councils continue to sidestep last year’s ruling in Gaurav Kumar v Union of India. That judgment had firmly capped enrolment fees at ₹750 for general candidates and ₹125 for those from SC/ST communities under Section 24(1)(f) of the Advocates Act, 1961.
Following the Court’s earlier directions, the BCI had issued compliance letters to all State Bar Councils and filed an affidavit outlining their responses. Most claimed to be charging only the statutory amounts—₹600 to the State Bar Council and ₹150 to the BCI for general candidates, and ₹100 plus ₹25 respectively for SC/ST applicants. Exceptions, however, were noted in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, and Karnataka.
The judges reiterated that beyond the prescribed enrolment fee (plus stamp duty, where applicable), no extras can be collected at the point of enrolment—voluntary or otherwise. And with that, the so-called “optional” label was officially struck off the legal dictionary.
