AIB Exam starts for out-of-practice law grads

The Bar Council of India has informed the Supreme Court that graduates of law schools who wish to return to advocacy after a five-year absence from the practise of law must pass the All India Bar Examination.

The bar organisation claimed in an affidavit submitted to the top court that if a person accepts a job with no link to legal or judicial matters would have to retake the AIBE exam.

"If a person remains in service having no connection/relationship with legal or judicial matters, then, in that case, such candidate shall be required to clear the AIBE again if he/she decides to get his/her licence to practice revived after remaining in the job for more than five years from the date of the publication of his/her result of AIBE," the affidavit stated.

The All India Bar Examination (AIBE) must be passed before a person can be provisionally enrolled with a bar council. After passing the test, the person has six months to determine whether they want to become an advocate or stay in their current position.

The top court stated that people who seek to return to advocacy after having their licence suspended will have lost touch with the legal profession. The Bar Council of India (BCI) will have to assess these candidates again through the a new AIBE test.