Supreme Court rules BCI jurisdiction limited to lawyers, not law students

The Supreme Court has clarified that the Bar Council of India's (BCI) jurisdiction and writ authority extend only to practising lawyers and not to law students. This distinction establishes that law students fall outside the regulatory framework that governs the conduct and discipline of lawyers in the country.

The ruling addresses the scope of BCI's powers, which are constitutionally vested in it to regulate the legal profession. The court's decision underscores the different regulatory status of law students, who are still undergoing education and have not yet been admitted to the bar.