The Kerala High Court made a landmark ruling when it held that the Kerala Bar Council cannot collect certificate verification fees from law graduates at the time of admission. According to the court, such fees have no statutory backing and cause undue harassment to aspiring lawyers.Background of the Case The petition was filed by law graduates who challenged the charging of a certificate verification fee by the Bar Council, as part of enrollment. It had been urged to be an arbitrary as well as unlawful practice for the reason that the Advocates Act, 1961 and the Bar Council of India Rules do not envisage the same. The amount incurred was ₹ 750. The move was to validate and check authentic educational documents from each applicant. However, the present petitioners claim that this comes within the ambit of the bar council and will not be included in the costs where an aspirant has undergone the procedure. Important Arguments They contend that the Bar Council is regulated by statutory provisions and, under those circumstances, without an explicit legal mandate cannot charge fees. In addition, they submit that, under the Advocates Act and the regulations to it, there is clear detail regarding enrollment and no provision of any sort which prescribes to the levy of a verification fee. On the other side, the Bar Council defended the position by saying that the process of verification is a must to ensure the genuineness of educational qualifications and to avoid fraud. The council of barristers argued that this fee is a minimum charge that upholds the integrity of the profession. Court's Findings The Hon'ble Justice P. V. Kunhikrishnan, who presided over this Court, first considered the statutory framework and submitted that the Bar Council of India had no authority to introduce or collect certificate verification fees. He felt that he had to set up the principle that mere verification costs could not be passed on to applicants in the absence of any statutory provision. The judgment pointed out that the role of the Bar Council is to facilitate the enrollment process and not to create financial barriers for law graduates. Further, Justice Kunhikrishnan stated that the council could not impose fees beyond what is stipulated under the Advocates Act. Judgment and Implications The court declared the certificate verification fee illegal and compelled the Bar Council to withdraw this practice in future. It also issued orders in the case to return all the fees collected so far from the petitioners. This judgment will have an important bearing for all aspiring lawyers in Kerala: Their right to enroll into the Bar is now ensured not to be thwarted by unauthorized demands for money. It will also re-establish the principle that the statutory bodies should be functionally active within the confines of the law. Judgments are important reminders to the authorities of the need for transparency and accountability so that no undue hardships befall the entry of professionals in the legal profession.