Karnataka High Court asks the State Bar Council to build a mechanism to track advocates who have not cleared the All India Bar Examination

19 October 2026

The Karnataka High Court held that an advocate who continues to practise without clearing the All India Bar Examination within the mandatory two-year period can face criminal liability under the Indian Penal Code and the Advocates Act, 1961. Justice H. P. Sandesh held that the existence of a disciplinary mechanism before a Bar Council does not by itself extinguish the jurisdiction of a competent criminal court, and that a complainant need not approach the Karnataka State Bar Council first. The Court directed that the jurisdictional police may proceed and file a report before the trial court, with the investigating officer examining whether the conduct attracts Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 45 of the Advocates Act, 1961. It also directed the Karnataka State Bar Council to devise a mechanism to track advocates who do not clear the examination within two years, so that non-compliance is flagged automatically. The petition in M. Prasanna Kumar versus State of Karnataka, Criminal Petition No. 633 of 2020, was dismissed. The Court described the conduct as an offence against society at large, that is, against the institution.