Conditional practicing licence for Gujarat law graduates

GANDHINAGAR - The law graduates of Gujarat will now get licence to practice in courts without having to clear the professional test conducted by the Bar Council of India (BCI).

Bar Council of Gujarat president J.J. Patel Monday said that a resolution in this regard has been passed and licences will be issued after taking an undertaking from the graduates that they will appear for the test within two years.

Patel said that for now, the BCI has postponed its plans to conduct the test, the passing of which was to be a pre-requisite for getting a licence to practice. He said the BCI will take the exam in March 2011 instead of December 2010. The BCI’s decision to postpone the exam was due to lack of facilities necessary for the test, he said.

The BCI had earlier decided to make it compulsory for law graduates across the country to clear the test before they could get the licence. A petition challenging the BCI’s decision is pending before the Gujarat High Court.