Legally India: New Delhi: Saturday, July 08, 2017.
The Bar
Council of India (BCI) denied a right to information (RTI) request for the
meeting minutes and reasons for its unexpected decision to yet again increase
the bar exam fees by another 40 per cent.
The regulator
said that such reasons did not qualify as “information” under the RTI law but
were in the category of “explanation” and therefore it was exempted from
disclosing them.
RTI applicant
Mohit Gupta, a Delhi University LLB student, had filed an application with the
law ministry on 27 March 2017 asking, among other queries, the following:
Provide the
minutes of the meetings convened for and the reasons behind increasing the fee
for the tenth edition of the All India Bar Examination (_AIBE X_) to Rs 3500
for general category candidates and Rs 2500 for SC/ST candidates. Provide
records/memos/opinions/orders/reports regarding the same.
The ministry
directed the RTI to the BCI which responded three months later on 27 June,
after the applicant had already filed a first appeal on 13 June:
Fee for 10th
All India Bar Examination was increased vide resolution passed by Executive
Committee in its meeting held on 13.11.2016 which was subsequently approved by
the general body of Bar Council of India and reason behind such increase is not
an information rather an explanation hence it cannot be provided.
In its reply
the BCI failed to attach a copy of the minutes of the 13 November EC meeting in
which it says that the decision to increase the fee was taken. The applicant
had specifically asked for “records”.
However the
BCI’s response is at least consistent with its track record on transparency -
it has hardly been forthcoming with various applicants’ RTI responses in the
past, was almost fined by the Central Information Commission (CIC) for failing
to observe the RTI law and produce basic records on its website.
And even the
fee hike itself was not explicitly announced and only notified candidates of
the increase after some time.
The
difference between the registration fee for the first bar exam and its tenth
edition is 169%, whereas the facilities available to candidates after
registering for the exam - printed study materials, responsiveness of the AIBE
helpline, timely conduct and results - have greatly diminished in the six years
of its existence.
The last five
editions of the bar exam also saw no reduction in the exam retake fees of Rs
2,560.
.JPG)
.JPG)
