Supreme Court Allows Provisional Enrolment for Law Graduates with Open Mode Bachelor's Degrees

Interim Relief for Law Graduates

The Supreme Court of India has stepped in to grant interim relief to law graduates whose enrolment as advocates was stalled due to the mode of their prior bachelor's degrees. In a significant interim order, a bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta directed the Telangana State Bar Council to provisionally enrol candidates who completed their three-year LLB through the regular mode but had obtained their earlier bachelor's degrees through open, distance, or correspondence learning.

The Core Controversy: Rule 5 of BCI

The matter revolves around the interpretation and application of Rule 5 of the Bar Council of India's Rules of Legal Education, 2008. The Bar Council had taken the position that candidates whose preceding educational qualifications were not obtained through regular mode were ineligible for enrolment, even if they had subsequently completed a regular LLB from a recognised university. This led to the rejection of enrolment applications for STS Gladies and Kevin Sukirthy, who had obtained their bachelor's degrees from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University and Madurai Kamaraj University (distance mode) respectively, before pursuing regular law degrees.

Kevin Sukirthy's challenge against the rejection was also dismissed by the Telangana High Court in October 2024, prompting the appeals to the Supreme Court.

Balancing Prejudice and Final Adjudication

While the Court expressly declined to enter into the merits of the controversy concerning Rule 5—leaving that for the final hearing—it recognised the immediate hardship faced by the applicants. The bench observed that "continued denial of enrolment during the pendency of the appeals would cause avoidable prejudice to the persons concerned and prevent them from entering the legal profession notwithstanding completion of their regular law degrees."

The Court carefully balanced the interests, noting that the applicants' interests could be adequately protected without prejudicing the final adjudication by granting provisional enrolment subject to the outcome of the appeals.

Provisional Enrolment with Caveats

The Supreme Court directed the Telangana State Bar Council to provisionally enrol the applicants and the appellant as advocates, subject to verification of their educational and other requisite documents and fulfilment of all applicable requirements. However, the Court made it clear that such provisional enrolment " shall not create any equity in favour of the persons concerned" and "shall remain subject to the final outcome of the respective Civil Appeals ."

The order disposes of the interim applications while the main civil appeals remain pending for hearing in due course. The decision provides temporary relief to law graduates who have completed regular LLB programmes but faced barriers due to their prior open or distance mode qualifications, a question that continues to await final resolution by the Supreme Court.