Delhi High Court Directs Bar Council Of India To Enroll South Korean National As Advocate Within Two Days

This ruling came in response to an appeal filed by the BCI, challenging a single judge's decision. The single judge had directed the BCI to process Jung's application for enrolment as an advocate in accordance with the law. Following the single judge's order, Jung was permitted to sit for the All India Bar Examination (AIBE), which he had cleared.

Jung’s counsel informed the Court that while initially, the South Korean national's result for the AIBE was marked as having passed, the result was later withheld on the portal.

A Division bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Rajneesh Kumar Gupta held, “This Court is of the opinion that in the absence of any stay which has been granted by this Court against the ld. Single Judge's judgment, withholding the enrolment of the Respondent No.1 would not be permissible.”

The bench made it clear that “Under these circumstances, the enrolment shall be issued immediately to the Respondent No. 1 within a period of two days.”

The bench further asserted that BCI’s failure to process his enrolment was not justified under the prevailing circumstances.

The appeal has been scheduled for a hearing on March 28, 2025.

The single judge had granted relief to Jung earlier, stating that as long as the rights of Indian citizens who hold law degrees from foreign countries were upheld, and no discriminatory practices were in place in the foreign country, nationals from those countries should be entitled to seek enrolment in India under the Advocates Act. The Court pointed out that BCI had failed to recognize that Jung was not seeking to establish his own legal practice in India as a foreign lawyer but was simply seeking enrolment as a foreign national holding a law degree recognized under Indian law.

The Court had further observed that any concerns or apprehensions regarding Jung’s enrolment, even if they were considered genuine, did not detract from his legal right to pursue enrolment as long as it complied with the provisions of the Advocates Act.

Cause Title: Bar Council Of India v. Deayoung Jung & Anr.

Appearance:

Appellant: Senior Advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey, Advocates Preet Pal Singh, Akshay Amritanshu, Drishti Saraf and Pragya Upadhyay

Respondents: Advocates Ashim Sood, Ekansh Gupta, Prateek Kundu, Ankur Singhal, Isha Khurana