AIBE 2025 Fees Controversy – SC Issues Notice to BCI on ₹3,500 Exam Fee PIL

The AIBE 19 result of 2024 has been challenged before the Gujarat High Court. The High Court will review the BCI assessment process on July 8. The case raises broader concerns about the clarity of assessment in the open-book AIBE. Read on to learn more.

Urvi Chandrashekhar Acharya, an LLM graduate with first-class honors, sued the Bar Council of India (BCI) in the Gujarat High Court after being declared "failed" in the All India Bar Examination (AIBE). Her petition highlights that seven out of 100 questions were dropped after the exam, but she was not awarded grace marks, keeping her score of 93 unchanged.

Despite attempting to answer all the questions and requesting a re-examination, his result remained unchanged, and the BCI failed to justify his failing grade. Justice Niral R. Mehta has issued a notice to the BCI, with a hearing scheduled for July 8, 2025, to address concerns about the fairness and transparency of the evaluation process.

Acharya appeared for the AIBE 19 exam, held on December 22, 2024. The results were based on 93 questions, with a passing score of 45% (approximately 42 points). When the AIBE 19 2024 results were announced, and she failed, she applied for an online review and paid the required fee, but the verdict remained unchanged.

The withdrawn questions were excluded from the final assessment, but no adjustment was made for the answered questions. The BCI offered no explanation or demonstration of how the final results worked, raising questions about procedural transparency. The Gujarat High Court will review the BCI's assessment process on July 8. The case raises broader concerns about the clarity of assessment in the open-book AIBE system.