The Delhi High Court has directed the Bar Council of India (BCI) to enrol Deayoung Jung, a South Korean citizen as advocate within two days.
The bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh and Justice Rajneesh Kumar Gupta has observed that the Single Judge undertook a thorough examination of the applicable statutes under South Korean Law, specifically the Attorney-At-Law Act and the National Bar Examination Act and arrived at a conclusion that there exists no nationality bar disentitling Indian citizens, who are otherwise qualified, from practicing law in South Korea. The Single Judge also noted the clarifications provided by the President of the Korean Bar Association and the Ministry of Justice, South Korea to the effect that in the absence of a nationality bar in the statutory framework, any individual could take the bar exam and practice law in South Korea.”
The Bar Council of India (BCI) filed the appeal under Clause X of the Letters Patent assailing the judgement dated 30th May 2023 passed in W.P.(C) 8015/2020 by the Single Judge.
The Bar Council of India submitted that he has still not received instructions in respect of the reciprocity given by South Korea to Indian lawyers.
The respondent contented that initially his name was reflected as having passed the AIBE examination, however, thereafter, the portal reflects that his result has been withheld.
The court held that in the absence of any stay which has been granted by this Court against the ld. Single Judge’s judgment, withholding the enrolment of the Respondent would not be permissible. Under these circumstances, the enrolment shall be issued immediately to the Respondent within a period of two days.
The court listed the appeal for hearing on 28th March, 2025.
Case Details
Case Title: Bar Council Of India Versus Deayoung Jung And Anr
Case No.: LPA 711/2023, CM APPL. 54473/2023 & CM APPL. 54474/2023
Date: 18.03.2025
Counsel For Petitioner: Pramod Kumar Dubey, Senior Advocate
Counsel For Respondent: Mr. Ashim Sood, Mr. Ekansh Gupta, Mr. Prateek Kundu, Mr. Ankur Singhal, Ms. Isha Khurana
