The second All India Bar Examination 2011 was finally held on July 24, 2011 after beingpostponed once. The Bar Council of India (BCI) had decided last year that it shall be compulsory for every law graduate to clear the AIBE, in order for them to be qualified to practice in courts. The first AIBE was held on March 6, 2011 at 45 examination centers all over India except Chennai where the Bar exam could not take place due to violent protests by some students and was later again postponed because of local State Elections on April 13, 2011.
Even though BCI received more than 13,000 applications for the Second AIBE 2011 held on July 24, 2011, it has been a checkered experience for candidates all over India specially because of the postponement of the examination.
A press release from the BCI said, “Barring an incident in Chennai (at four venues), the AIBE was conducted successfully in 31 venues in 26 cities across India. The attendance for the second AIBE across the country was approximately 97 percent".
Newly elected Bar Council of India Chairman, Ashok Parija in the press release said, “The AIBE was a reform oriented measure and it has been successful. Lawyers who have passed the earlier AIBE are getting adequate recognition to assist their career and I would like to congratulate every lawyer who has written the AIBE and wish them all the very best for the way forward. We are committed to conducting the AIBE efficiently in the future".
Bar & Bench spoke to one of the law graduates who appeared for the exam. According to Arjun Sheoran, alumni, NLSIU, Bangalore, the question paper was very easy and he finished with the exam in just 1.5 hours. He also said that the study materials provided by the Bar for preparation for the exam were excellent. When questioned about the structure of the examination paper, he pointed out that all the law subjects were equally covered and no specific emphasis was laid on any one particular topic. Also, the questions were more of analytical and knowledge-based, and did not rely much on rote memory.
Even with such an easy question paper, it was not at all a smooth sailing for Tamil Nadu, as over 2000 law graduates missed the exam as protesters blocked traffic and boycotted the exam. A group of students held protests at Loyola College in Nungambakkam and Ethiraj College in Egmore, which were the designated exam centres. They shouted slogans and tore up hall tickets in the presence of police personnel, according to TOI.
With no response coming from the All India Bar Council to the petition sent by the Tamil Nadu Bar Council asking it to re-consider the decision making the exam mandatory, agitation by the students was further fuelled. The Students accused the Bar of conducting the exam for private gain and averred that such an exam was unnecessary.
This being the third time that the Bar Exam has been postponed in Tamil Nadu, it remains to be seen whether some practicable solution will be arrived at by the All India Bar Council in concurrence with the Tamil Nadu Bar Council.
Speaking to Bar & Bench P. George Giri, Member of Madras High Court Advocates Association and Advocate-on-Record in Supreme Court said, “I passed out in 1996 when BCI implemented Training Rules and harassed the new comers. If the Bar Council is properly using its powers to maintain the standards of legal education, it would have inspected each and every law college in India and would have improved the quality of legal education. What BCI is doing now is an utter foolishness, analyzing the Bar Exam in the light of Training Rules of 1995. The recent arrests of BCI members for corruption further testify this fact. Hence, the Bar Exam is unnecessary and the protest of the brother lawyers in Chennai is apt at this time. Corruption of the BCI authorities cannot be veiled by penalizing the law students, who have already cleared Law Entrance Exams of the various National Law
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