16-year wait ends as Vadodara hosts AIBE

Vadodara: In a significant development for the city’s legal fraternity, Vadodara on Sunday hosted the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) for the first time since its introduction in 2011, ending a 16-year wait for a local examination centre for law graduates and aspiring advocates.

The examination, which is mandatory for law graduates seeking to practise in courts across the country, was conducted at multiple centres in the city. The allotment of a local centre comes after years of representations by the Baroda Bar Association, law students and elected representatives to the Bar Council of India and the ministry of law and justice.

For over a decade, candidates from Vadodara and neighbouring districts had to travel to Ahmedabad, Surat or Rajkot to appear for the examination. The arrangement often posed logistical challenges, particularly because the AIBE is conducted as an open-book test requiring candidates to carry Bare Acts and other legal reference materials. Examinees also incurred additional expenses on travel, accommodation and local transportation.

The newly established centre is expected to ease these difficulties and make the examination more accessible to aspiring advocates from central Gujarat.

The AIBE serves as the final qualifying step for law graduates before they can begin practising in courts. Candidates who clear the examination become eligible to complete enrolment formalities with the State Bar Council and obtain a licence to practise as advocates. The qualification is mandatory for lawyers to appear before courts and undertake legal practice independently.

Members of the legal fraternity described Sunday’s examination as a landmark moment for Vadodara, stating that the local centre would benefit hundreds of law graduates from the city and nearby districts every year.