SRINAGAR: The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has made qualifying the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) mandatory for law graduates enrolled as advocates from the academic year 2009-10 onwards, directing those who have not cleared the examination to do so in accordance with Bar Council of India rules.
In a notification issued on October 10, the High Court said law graduates enrolled with the Bar Council of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh who graduated in 2009-10 or later must qualify the AIBE if they have not already done so.
The notification states that fresh law graduates and provisionally enrolled advocates will be granted an absolute certificate of enrolment only after qualifying the examination and producing the Certificate of Practice (COP) issued by the Bar Council of India within two years.
Advocates enrolled with the Bar Council of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh after July 1, 2010, who have already cleared the AIBE, have been directed to submit copies of their Certificates of Practice to the High Court Registry within one month from the date of issuance of the notification.
The notification implements Rules 9, 10 and 11 of Chapter III, Part VI of the Bar Council of India Rules, which govern the AIBE. Under these provisions, advocates covered by the examination requirements cannot practise under Chapter IV of the Advocates Act, 1961, unless they successfully clear the examination.
The AIBE tests advocates on substantive and procedural law. Candidates who fail can reappear without any limit on the number of attempts, while those who pass are entitled to a Certificate of Practice, which the Bar Council of India is required to issue within 30 days of the declaration of results.
According to the notification, the matter was referred to the High Court’s Rules Committee, which considered it at a meeting on August 19, 2026, and recommended implementing the AIBE rules across Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The recommendations were subsequently placed before the Full Court at its meeting on October 8 and approved.
The notification, issued by Registrar General M.K. Sharma, also amends the instructions accompanying the application form for enrolment as an advocate in accordance with the relevant Bar Council of India rules and Section 57(b) of the Advocates Act, 1961.
