The Delhi High Court has directed the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) to consider a plea seeking removal or masking of advocate’s personal information displayed on its online “Enrolment Status” portal.
A Division Bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia passed the direction on September 2, 2026, while dealing with a petition filed by advocate Aditya Chauhan. The plea raised concerns over the public availability of residential addresses, mobile numbers, dates of birth and parents’ names.
Background
The petitioner claimed that the BCD portal allows personal details of an advocate to be accessed by entering the enrolment number and year. According to the plea, the portal does not require login credentials, OTP, CAPTCHA or any other authentication.
The petition argued that online verification of an advocate’s enrolment may serve a legitimate purpose, but unrestricted access to additional personal information was not necessary for that purpose.
It also relied on Sections 17 and 19 of the Advocates Act, 1961, contending that the statutory provisions concerning the roll of advocates do not require public disclosure of details such as mobile numbers, dates of birth or parents’ names.
During the hearing, the Bench questioned why information maintained by the Bar Council also needed to be made publicly visible.
“While you should maintain the records, why make the same visible?”
Counsel for the BCD submitted that the details would appear only after an enrolment number was entered, unlike information contained in an electoral roll. The counsel also agreed that the petition could be treated as a representation before the BCD.
The Delhi High Court directed the Bar Council of Delhi to treat the petition as a representation and decide it appropriately within eight weeks.
“The petition be considered and decided within eight weeks.”
The Court accordingly disposed of the petition.
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