The Supreme Court has rejected a petition that sought lowering of the cut-offs in All India Bar Examination (AIBE) for law graduates, with Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud adding a ‘please study’ advice for the petitioner.
The All India Bar Examination is conducted by the Bar Council of India, and law graduates must clear it to start their practice. This exam is conducted in over 10 languages twice a year and can be taken at any age. The subjects in the exam are wide-ranging, including Constitutional laws, criminal laws, PILs, environmental laws and industry laws. Taxation and intellectual property laws are also part of the syllabus, along with several other branches.
Currently, the cut-off for this exam is 45 per cent of general category of OBC candidates and 40 per cent for applicants from SC/ST categories.
“They have put a cut-off of 45 for general, OBC and 40 for SC/ST …what kind of lawyer will the person be if they cannot score this much?,” the Chief Justice said. He then added, “Padho bhai”.
Recently, in response to a query under the Right to Information Act, the Bar Council had said that over 50 per cent of candidates who took the exam last year had failed to clear it.
According to the AIBE website, it is an open book exam aimed at assessing basic level knowledge and analytical skills for a candidate willing to practise law.
