Now Vakilata i.e. Law can be practiced at any age. The Bar Council of India (BCI) has removed the maximum age limit for admission to law courses through a resolution passed on 5 November 2026. BCI has informed the Supreme Court in this regard. During the hearing on Friday, the BCI’s counsel requested to finalize the decision. A bench headed by CJI Suryakant took the BCI’s proposal on record. It is believed that this decision will be implemented soon. Apart from this, the Supreme Court has also disposed of the petition filed in this case.
Let’s know the whole matter in detail. Let us know what was the maximum age limit for law courses. What happened in the Supreme Court in this matter? We will also know the arguments given by BCI earlier in this matter.
Maximum age limit was 45 years
The BCI had earlier fixed the maximum age limit for admission to law courses, under which the maximum age limit for admission to a 5-year law course was 22 years. Similarly, the maximum age limit for admission to the three-year law course was fixed at 45 years.
The Supreme Court stayed the hearing of the petition
The Supreme Court stayed the BCI’s decision to fix the maximum age limit for admission to law courses. An application was filed in the Supreme Court regarding this. The petitioner raised the question whether the power to fix the minimum qualification can be exercised in imposing the maximum age limit. On this, Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that the residential nature of the five-year law course cannot be a basis.
SC granted time to BCI
The application was heard in the last week of September. During the hearing, the Supreme Court gave two weeks’ time to the BCI. Meanwhile, the SC had asked the BCI whether it was willing to remove the maximum age limit for admission to the five-year law course. After hearing the BCI’s reply on this, the SC fixed the hearing for two weeks.
What did BCI say?
The BCI said that we have fixed the maximum age limit as most of the five-year law courses are residential. The BCI said the court can fix the age on this. “We also have a three-year law course,” said a BCI lawyer. In such a situation, if one wants to study law after a certain age, he can do a three-year course. A BCI lawyer said that most of the three-year law courses are not residential, but most of the five-year law courses are residential.
All 5 year law courses are non-residential
Rejecting BCI’s arguments during the hearing, Justice Joymalaya Bagchi said that all five-year law courses are not residential. He gave the example of Calcutta University’s 5 year law course. The court said that this was not a proper criterion for determining the maximum age limit. On this, BCI said that the court can pass an appropriate order. Now the next hearing of this case will be after two weeks.
