Thaindian News

New Delhi, Oct 15 (IANS) The Bar Council of India (BCI) will hold, in December, its first-ever mandatory test for law graduates seeking to begin professional practice, the law ministry said Friday.

“The BCI will conduct the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) in nine languages across 27 cities in India on December 5, 2010,” said the ministry in a statement.

It added that the examination will be held for the law students who graduated in 2009-10 and only after passing this examination will they be able to get enrolled with various bar associations and be eligible to practice in courts of law across India.

The candidates can also apply online for the AIBE through BCI website, it said, adding that the last date for applying for the examination is Oct 31.

The BCI, the country’s apex statutory body to regulate legal education and profession and having disciplinary jurisdiction over lawyers, early this year decided to make the test mandatory for all new law graduates before allowing them to start practicing in courts.

The move is the brain child of present BCI chairman and Solicitor General of India Gopal Subramaniam, who maintains that the step is a must to enhance quality of legal professionals.

The BCI would be providing preparatory materials in nine languages for this examination to all candidates, said the statement, adding that the application forms, along with an instruction sheet for this examination would be available at all state Bar Associations offices, besides the BCI.