BCI gives 1-year AIBE certificate window for delay-hit law graduates

The Bar Council of India (BCI) has granted a 1-year window for All India Bar Examination (AIBE) XIX candidates to submit their enrolment certificates, extending the standard 6-month deadline. The move, communicated in a letter to state bar councils, covers candidates whose delay in obtaining their law degree certificates was not their fault, such as non-declaration of results or procedural delays despite timely applications.

The BCI outlined four categories of candidates under its undertaking-based eligibility framework. Only Categories 1 (final-year students without backlogs) and 2 (those awaiting final-semester results) qualify for the extended deadline. Category 3 (unenrolled graduates holding their degree) remains bound by 6 months, and Category 4 (employed graduates) gets no extension. The 1-year period runs from the AIBE XIX result date. BCI said the same framework will apply prospectively from AIBE XX onwards.

NDTV reports the arrangement is limited to students whose academic session was ongoing when the Delhi High Court delivered its judgment on November 3, 2025, and who were protected by the Supreme Court's July 21, 2026, order. Barandbench notes the extension is not automatic and candidates must prove the delay was not due to their own negligence.