MP High Court Directs State Bar Council To Provisionally Register Advocate Questioning Exorbitant Fee To Transfer Enrolment From Delhi

The Madhya Pradesh High Court, in a writ petition filed by advocate Rohit Pathak, directed the State Bar Council of Madhya Pradesh to provisionally register his name without charging any fee for now. Pathak had sought to transfer his enrolment from the Bar Council of Delhi to the MP Bar Council, submitting the required certificate and application. However, the MP Bar Council demanded ₹15,000 as a transfer fee, which the petitioner contended was “exorbitant” and contrary to Section 18 of the Advocates Act, 1961. That section provides that transferring a name from one State roll to another should be effected without payment of any fee. The petitioner also noted that the Bar Council of India had already approved the transfer. The Court noted that since the Bar Council of Delhi had no role in the imposition of MP’s fee, notice was not issued to it. The Bench (Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva & Justice Vinay Saraf) issued notice to MP Bar Council and passed the interim order to register the petitioner provisionally without fee, pending further orders. The matter is listed for hearing later.