Madras High Court: In a writ petition filed for directing the Bar Council of India (‘BCI’) to reduce the application fee for All-India Bar Examination (AIBE’) conducted by BCI, based on the petitioner’s representation dated 19-01-2024, the division bench of R. Mahadevan, ACJ. and G.R. Swaminathan, J. has said that unlike in the case of enrolment fee, there is no statutory provision which prescribes any sum towards examination fee. Further, the Court noted that only a sum of Rs.3,500/- is demanded from the candidates and said that it is not an exorbitant amount.
The Court said that unlike in the case of enrolment fee, there is no statutory provision which prescribes any particular sum towards examination fee. A Writ of Mandamus can be issued only if the applicant can show the existence of a legal right.
The Court further added that even in the absence of any statutory violation, if the quantum of fee is found to be exorbitant, it will be justified to interfere with the same, but such is not the case.
The Court noted that only a sum of Rs.3,500/- is demanded from the candidate, and it’s not high.
[Gokul Abimanyu v. Union of India, 2024 SCC OnLine Mad 2504, decided on 18-06-2024]
