New Delhi, Aug 21 : The Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) on Monday informed the Delhi high court that it has withdrawn its notification making Aadhaar and Voter Identity Card bearing a Delhi-NCR address mandatory for enrollment with it.

The high court had, on July 13, said that BCD's notification needs to be annulled with immediate effect while dealing with a Public Interest Litigation filed by lawyer Shannu Baghel to set aside BCD's notification.

During the hearing, a bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula was informed that the notification has been withdrawn.

The court noted: "The notification dated April 13, 2023, by which the Bar Council of Delhi had notified that the person who is not a resident of Delhi/NCR will not be registered as an Advocate by the Bar Council of Delhi. Counsel for the BCD in open court has made a statement that the impugned notification has been withdrawn. In light of the aforesaid, the notification has been withdrawn by BCD. Nothing survives in the present writ petition. The same stands disposed of".

The BCD had stated in its notice that it is mandatory for the fresh law graduates seeking to enroll in the national capital to attach their Aadhaar and Voter ID card copies bearing an address in Delhi/NCR and the lack of this will lead to no enrollment.

Earlier, a bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad questioned counsel on how people not hailing from Delhi can be barred from seeking enrollment.

"How can you restrict persons of Delhi alone to register with the BCD? This notification needs to be struck down straightaway. You cannot restrict BCD membership to Delhi only," the bench had remarked.

Delhi is a good place to pursue law practice, which is why people come here, the judge had said.

"Suppose I am staying in Ramanathapuram, I stay in Silchar or Kachchh or Mehsana. What will I do? I have to earn my bread, come here and practise."

Baghel, a practising advocate in the high court and district courts here, had argued that notification was discriminatory as it bars people from outside Delhi-NCR from enrolling in Delhi and practising here.

An advocate and Delhi University alumna had also filed a plea before the high court challenging the BCD's notification. Calling the BCD's decision arbitrary and discriminatory, the petition filed by advocate Rajani Kumari, who is a resident of Bihar, challenges BCD's notice issued on April 13 stating that lawyers proposing to get enrolled with the BCD will have to produce their Aadhaar and Voter ID cards showing Delhi or the NCR as their place of residence.

According to Kumari, the council's decision would act like a barrier for law graduates coming from different parts of the country and looking to practise law in the capital for better prospects.

"The requirement of Aadhaar Card and Voter ID Card with the address of Delhi or NCR discriminates against those law graduates who do not have an address in Delhi or NCR. This creates an arbitrary classification between law graduates based on their residential address, which is a violation of Article 14," the plea contended.

It stated that the blanket restriction on enrollment with BCD lacks intelligible differentia as to how a law graduate belonging to Agra having and graduated from National Law School, Bangalore is unequally placed with one domiciled in Meerut. "The impugned notification is completely silent about the objective it seeks to achieve from the classification stipulated therein," the plea stated.