Rajasthan High Court: In a writ petition filed with respect to pending enrolment application at Rajasthan Bar Council due to Bar elections, a Single Judge Bench of Shubha Mehta, J., directed the Rajasthan Bar Council to dispose of all the pending applications for enrolment as an advocate under Advocates Act, 1961, by 9 September 2026, holding that the pending applications are affecting the right to livelihood of the applicants.
Background
The petitioner graduated from Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Law University, Jaipur in 2025 and applied for registration as an Advocate at Rajasthan Bar Council as per the provisions of Advocates Act, 1961. The petitioner submitted the application with required documents and fee, and applied through email too.
The application was not resolved due to Rajasthan Bar Council elections and administrative reasons.
During the hearing, counsel for the petitioner argued, in the alternative, that under Section 58 of the Advocates Act, 1961, which empowers the High Court to carry out enrolment where a State Bar Council is unable to perform its functions, the High Court itself could be directed to complete the petitioner’s enrolment if the Bar Council did not do so within a fixed time.
Analysis and Decision
The Court observed that it was an established fact that the petitioner’s application for enrolment was submitted and pending. The Bar Council elections had not concluded by the time this petition was being heard. The ad hoc committee constituted for the enrolment process on 24 February 2026 was dissolved by the High-Level Election Supervision Committee on 12 March 2026, and thus no committee was functioning for the enrolment process. Therefore, the petitioner’s application for enrolment was pending.
The Court noted that the Bar Council elections had concluded by the time this judgment was being pronounced and the results were declared too. So, the Court found it appropriate to direct the Rajasthan Bar Council to dispose of the enrolment application of the petitioner.
The Court held that the pending applications for enrolment as an advocate with the Rajasthan Bar Council affected the right to livelihood of the applicants. Therefore, the Court directed the respondents to dispose of the pending enrolment applications by 9 September 2026.
[Surendra Khinchi v. Bar Council of Rajasthan, 2026 SCC OnLine Raj 5582, decided on 3-9-2026]
Judgment Authored by: Justice Shubha Mehta
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For Petitioner: Vishal Soni
For Respondents: Prateek Kasliwal, Sandeep Pathak, Arnab Singh, Nikhilesh Katara
