This year, over 1.73 lakh aspiring advocates registered for the All India Bar exam (Representative image)
A resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Colonelganj in Gonda district, Santosh Kumar took up odd jobs, from welding to working in a factory. He was only 16 years old when he came to Lucknow, which is about 90 km from his town, to look for decent work
Santosh Kumar, a security guard for over eight years passed the AIBE 17 exam this year. A resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Colonelganj in Gonda district, he took up odd jobs, from welding to working in a factory. He was only 16 years old when he came to Lucknow, which is about 90 km from his town, to look for decent work.
With much difficulty, Kumar completed his graduation in 2009 in political science from a Gonda-based college. In 2012, he finished his post-graduation in political science. The following year, Kumar enrolled himself in a three-year law programme at NVM College in Lucknow. To support himself financially, he worked at a pizza restaurant chain while pursuing his law degree. Kumar later joined a security service company to ensure he gets time to study. Coincidently, the security service company placed him at National Law University (NLU) in 2014. Despite graduating in 2016, Kumar could not afford his examination fee to register for the AIBE exam.
While speaking to The Indian Express recently, the 35-year-old said that when he was a kid – he remembers attending a programme on Dr B R Ambedkar. During that event, he was given a copy of the Constitution, and that motivated him to study law.
“I had joined NLU as a security guard on a salary of Rs 6,500,” Kumar said as per Indian Express. Despite his job, Kumar never gave up on his dream of becoming a lawyer. He would often sit outside law classes and listen intently to the lectures.
Last year, he finally took the courage and told a student that he had a law degree and aspired to become an advocate someday. There were many who volunteered to help him. There were a few students who also began a crowdfunding exercise to raise money for Kumar, reports add. Students were able to raise Rs 9,000 after which he bought books in Hindi as the university library only had books in English.
A year later, Kumar’s hard work and dedication paid off – he was overjoyed to know that he had cleared the All India Bar Examination to begin legal practice. As per his future plans, Kumar’s family (wife and four daughters) will live in Gonda while he would soon start working for a senior advocate at the Lucknow district court. Days ago, he received a job offer to work in the advocate’s chambers.
The Bar Council of India (BCI) on May 20 released the All India Bar Examination (AIBE) 17 withheld results, for applicants who uploaded their enrollment certificate on or before May 15. Candidates can download their updated results on the official website at allindiabarexamination.com.
This year, over 1.73 lakh aspiring advocates registered for the All India Bar exam. Out of which, approximately 1.71 lakh applicants appeared for the AIBE 2023. Applicants whose results are still showing withheld owing to missing or incorrect enrollment certificates will get their results by May 30. The council will start the second phase of the AIBE 17 OMR sheet rechecking on August 5.
