The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought responses from the Union Government, the Bar Council of India (BCI), and the Bar Council of Delhi on a plea challenging BCI's decision to raise the nomination fee for State Bar Council elections to ₹1.25 lakh.
The plea, filed by advocate Pramod Kumar Singh through lawyers C.S. Rathore and Sanjeev Kumar, terms the September 25 decision of the BCI as "arbitrary and unreasonable." Singh argues that such a steep hike deprives many lawyers-especially young and small practitioners-of the right to participate in the democratic process of their professional body.
A division bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela issued notice to the respondents, seeking their stand on the issue.
The bench remarked that the matter concerns the
“larger question of accessibility and fairness in bar elections.”
The case will now be heard on December 10, with the court directing all respondents to file their replies before the next date.
Case Title: Pramod Kumar Singh v. Bar Council of India & Ors
