Chief Justice DY Chandrachud’s Initial Legal Fee and the Start of His Law Career

Chief Justice Chandrachud remarked that the charging of “high fees” for enrolment in bar councils in different states was discussed during a recent hearing. He recalled his early days as a lawyer when he had earned a fee of Rs 60 for an urgent case. At that time, lawyers would typically ask for fees in gold ‘mohar’ instead of Indian rupees.

This practice was prevalent in the Bombay High Court until about 25 years ago. The Supreme Court recently reserved judgment on petitions challenging the enrolment fees charged by bar councils in various states, with Justice JB Pardiwala also part of the Bench. The court questioned whether the bar councils could legally charge fees higher than those specified in the Advocates Act, 1961.

It was noted that there was a lack of uniformity in the fees charged by state bar councils, with amounts ranging from Rs 15,000 in states like Kerala, Maharashtra, and Delhi to Rs 41,000 in other states like Odisha. Chief Justice Chandrachud emphasized that the law clearly states that bar councils cannot charge a sum higher than Rs 600 for state bar councils and Rs 150 for the Bar Council of India. Despite acknowledging the various expenses involved in running the state bar councils, he reiterated that it was for the parliament to increase the enrolment fee.

In 2023, the Supreme Court had transferred petitions from high courts regarding this issue to itself. Notably, the Kerala High Court had directed the Bar Council of Kerala to collect only Rs 750 as enrolment fee from law graduates until a uniform fee structure was considered by the Bar Council of India.