DY Chandrachud: “Please study,” Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud advised the petitioner after the Supreme Court dismissed a plea seeking lowering of cut-off in the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) for law graduates. CJI DY Chandrachud, who headed the bench, said lowering the cut-off score would adversely affect the quality of lawyers. Currently, the passing marks are fixed at 45% for general category candidates and 40% for SC/ST category candidates. “They have put the limit at 45% for general, OBC category and 40% for SC/ST… What kind of a lawyer will a person be if he cannot score this much?” the Chief Justice said. “Study brother! (Please study).”
The All India Bar Examination, conducted by the Bar Council of India, is what law graduates must clear to begin their practice. The exam is given twice a year in over 10 languages and can be taken at any age. The subjects of the exam are wide-ranging and include constitutional law, criminal law, PIL, environmental law and industrial law. Tax and intellectual property laws, along with several other branches, are also part of the syllabus. According to the AIBE website, it is an open-book exam aimed at assessing the basic knowledge and analytical skills of a candidate wishing to practice law. Recently, the Madras High Court dismissed a petition seeking a reduction in the AIBE application fee.
