New Delhi, April 28
The Supreme Court will examine the validity of the rules framed by the bar councils of some states, including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, debarring the law graduates of over 45 years of age from registering themselves as advocates.

Framing of such rules by the state bar councils was coming in the way of thousands of such law graduates to register themselves as lawyers, who either were legal consultants with some private firms or were in government service and wanted to pursue the legal profession on resigning or after retirement.

A Bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice R.V. Raveendran accepted for hearing an appeal of the Tamil Nadu Bar Council (TNBC) on Friday wherein a recent order of the Madras High Court quashing the rule framed by the state council putting embargo on the registration of 45- year-old law graduates was challenged.

The other state bar councils, which had put such an embargo, included those of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Chhattisgarh, the apex court was informed.

The issue arose with the denial of registration to M. Radhakrishnan by the TNBC citing the rule. He had challenged the constitutional validity of the TNBC rule itself in the High Court on the ground that it violated citizens’ fundamental right of equal opportunities guaranteed in the Constitution and that of professional freedom.