Law Clerk With HC Entitled To Advocate Enrolment, But Licence Remains Suspended During Engagement: Jharkhand High Court

The Jharkhand High Court has directed the Jharkhand State Bar Council to issue an enrolment certificate to a law graduate who was denied enrolment after joining as a Law Researcher/Research Associate in the High Court, while clarifying that her licence would remain suspended during the period of such engagement.A Single Judge Bench of Justice Ananda Sen was hearing a writ petition filed by Richa Priya seeking a direction to the Bar Council to enrol her as an advocate from the date on which other applicants who had applied along with her were granted enrolment certificates.The petitioner had completed her B.A. LL.B. (Hons.) from Amity University, Jharkhand in 2024 and applied for enrolment with the Jharkhand State Bar Council on 30.08.2024. During the pendency of her application, the High Court of Jharkhand issued an advertisement for engagement of Law Researchers/Research Associates. The petitioner applied, was selected, and joined the High Court on 03.10.2024.The Court noted that the petitioner's application for enrolment had been scrutinised by the Bar Council on 11.09.2024, before she joined the High Court. The mandatory period of fourteen clear days from the date of scrutiny expired on 26.09.2024. On that date also, the petitioner had not joined the High Court, as her engagement letter was issued only on 27.09.2024 and she joined on 03.10.2024. The Court observed:“Thus, in my opinion, the petitioner should have been granted the Enrolment Certificate immediately, on completion of fourteen days i.e. on 26.09.2024.”The Court noted that enrolment certificates were issued to all candidates on 15.10.2024 except the petitioner. Though no written reasons were communicated, she was verbally informed that her certificate could not be issued as she had already been engaged in the High Court and had taken her certificates back for that purpose.However, the Court held that since the petitioner joined the High Court on 03.10.2024, she was duty-bound to inform the Bar Council about the engagement and take steps to keep her licence under suspension during the period of engagement.Accordingly, the Court directed the Jharkhand State Bar Council to immediately issue the enrolment certificate to the petitioner, giving effect to it from 15.10.2024. It clarified that the licence would remain under suspension from 03.10.2024 till the period she remains engaged with the High Court.The Court further directed that the petitioner be immediately informed of her enrolment number and effective date of enrolment.It also directed that the Jharkhand State Bar Council must henceforth take steps to conduct meetings of the Enrolment Committee and Scrutiny Committee twice every month.Case Title: Richa Priya v. Jharkhand State Bar Council.Case No.: W.P.(C) No. 3582 of 2026Appearance: Ms. Richa Priya appeared in person for the Petitioner. Mr. Manoj Tandon, Ms. Shivani Bhardwaj, Mrs. Neha Bhardwaj, Mr. Karamjit S. Chhabra, Mr. Shubham Kumar and Mr. Rajesh Pandey, Secretary, Jharkhand State Bar Council, appeared for the Respondent.Click Here To Read/Download Order

Law Clerk With HC Entitled To Advocate Enrolment, But Licence Remains Suspended During Engagement: Jharkhand High Court

Rushil Batra

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Law Clerk With HC Entitled To Advocate Enrolment, But Licence Remains Suspended During Engagement: Jharkhand High Court

Rushil Batra

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INR 1099+GST

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