Girls edge out boys in BCI entrance exam

Updated on: Monday, March 21, 2011

Aspiring female advocates have edged out their male counterparts with 72 per cent of girls clearing the first All India Bar Examination (AIBE).

Male candidates were slightly behind with 71 per cent of them qualifying the mandatory entrance examination conducted by Bar Council of India (BCI).

Out of 22,000 aspirants, 71.3 per cent candidates cleared the AIBE, which from the current year has become mandatory for all lawyers prior to their enrolment in bar associations.

However, a surprising feature was the highest pass percentage of 98.1 per cent recorded by Bihar, followed by Sikkim (92 per cent) and Assam (91 per cent).

Addressing a press conference here today, BCI Chairman and Solicitor General of India Gopal Subramanium said that out of the 22,000 students who registered for the AIBE, about 96 per cent of the students appeared for the test at 41 venues spread over 26 cities in the country.

Delhi and Uttarakhand have a success rate of 89 per cent, while Orissa, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh recorded a pass percentage of 88, 81 and 79 respectively.

Chhattisgarh scored poorly with 39 per cent only, while Madhya Pradesh recorded 52 per cent.

"The test was done to access the analytical capability and basic knowledge of law of an advocate," Subramanium said.

He said the three-and-half hour exam was loaded with 100 multiple questions from 20 subjects, in nine different languages under the open book format.

"The mandate of the Supreme Court was with the BCI in this issue and a new era of legal reforms has been started," he said adding "wall of elitism and regimentation" would be brought down in legal profession by this.

The BCI chairman said the exams at Chennai centre would be conducted in the third week as they were postponed due to protests from the local lawyers.

Girls edge out boys in BCI entrance exam

More Education news