The Kerala High Court has directed the Bar Council of Kerala to publish the names of 1,157 advocates enrolled between 2010 and 2021 who have not cleared the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) and were found to be practising without a valid Certificate of Practice (CoP).
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar VM directed that the complete list be published on the websites of both the Bar Council of Kerala and the Kerala High Court.
The Court instructed the Bar Council’s ad-hoc committee to post the names of all defaulting lawyers on its website and enforce the required action against them. The Bench further directed that matters in which any of the 1,157 advocates have filed vakalatnamas should not be registered by the Registry of the concerned courts.
The Registrar (District Judiciary) was also directed to circulate the list to all District Courts across Kerala. At the same time, the Court clarified that advocates who subsequently obtain a valid CoP can have their names removed from the list. Such advocates will be required to submit an authenticated copy of their Certificate of Practice.
The directions were issued in a public interest litigation filed by a petitioner who alleged that the Bar Council of Kerala had failed to effectively implement provisions of the Advocates Act, 1961 relating to the qualifications required for legal practice.
The PIL arose after the petitioner, while appearing before a Family Court in a matrimonial dispute, discovered that the advocate representing the opposite party had not cleared the AIBE and did not possess a valid CoP.
After filing a complaint and seeking information under the RTI Act, the petitioner received confirmation from the Bar Council regarding the advocate’s status. He subsequently filed another RTI application seeking details of the AIBE status of advocates enrolled with the Bar Council of Kerala.
In May 2026, the Bar Council disclosed a list of advocates enrolled between July 2010 and December 2021 who had neither cleared the AIBE nor obtained a CoP.
The petitioner thereafter approached the High Court, alleging that despite the disclosure, the Bar Council had failed to take effective action against more than 1,000 advocates allegedly practising without the statutory qualification.
The PIL sought systemic enforcement of Sections 17, 24 and 35 of the Advocates Act, including suspension of enrolment, disciplinary proceedings and notification of courts and litigants about the qualification status of the concerned advocates.
The High Court’s directions were issued to ensure that advocates who do not satisfy the statutory requirements are not permitted to continue appearing before courts without a valid Certificate of Practice.
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