'Slash advocate registration fee, help us start our careers'

New law graduates have demanded the Bar Council of India (BCI) to reduce the advocate registration charge by half. The students' organisation, in a letter to the BCI, said that the fee be reduced to Rs 7,500 from Rs 15,000 considering the pandemic and its adverse impact. The graduates said the reduction would help many start their career and make earning amid the crisis.

The Maharashtra Students Union (MASU) said the fee paid to the BCI is a non-optional expenditure to begin practising law, and that it was R7,500 until last year. It was increased to Rs 15,000 in January 2020, and is proving to be too expensive now, the graduates said.

"MASU requested the Bar Council of Maharashtra & Goa to consider the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus and the subsequent nationwide lockdown. The people of Maharashtra are in dire straits and their financial situation is deteriorating day by day. Therefore, MASU demanded that the fee be halved for 2020-21," said MASU President Siddharth Ingle.

The letter has also been sent to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant, requesting to take cognisance of the issue.

"The amount may not be huge for some, but for others it is an added expenditure amid the financial crisis. It is also important to note that this fee has been increased this year only, so it may not be much of a difficulty to extend the implementation of the new fee structure for one more year," Ingle added.

A senior BCI official, requesting anonymity, said, "The council has just received the request and it will certainly be discussed to provide a convenient option for the graduates." BCI Secretary Srimanto Sen could not be reached for comment.

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