Kiran Raj

The Supreme Court of India, through a notification issued by OSD (Registrar) & Secretary, Board of Examiners, has announced the schedule for the Advocates-on-Record (AOR) Examination to be held in June 2025. The examination will be conducted in New Delhi over four days—16th, 17th, 20th, and 21st June 2025. The notification, dated April 9, 2025, sets out the eligibility criteria, application process, applicable regulations, and other examination-related conditions.

Advocates intending to appear for the examination must have completed, or be on course to complete, one year of continuous training under a registered Advocate-on-Record by April 30, 2025. The training must have commenced from the end of the fourth year of their enrolment as an advocate.

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The duly filled application forms must be submitted between April 15 and April 30, 2025, at Room No. 307, 3rd Floor, B-Block, Administrative Buildings Complex, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi-110001, during office hours. Application forms and submission guidelines have been appended to the notification as Annexure ‘A’. Forms may also be obtained physically from the AOR Examination Cell or submitted electronically via email along with supporting documents and fee payment proof. The final acceptance of the application will depend on submission of the physical copy of the form by the prescribed deadline.

Candidates must ensure submission of the certificate of training completion issued under Regulation 6 of the Advocates-on-Record Examination Regulations. The application process will not proceed in the absence of this certificate.

A list of leading cases for Paper-IV has been attached as Annexure ‘B’. During the examination, printed and bound copies of headnotes for these cases will be provided to candidates in the exam hall and must be returned after completion of the paper. Candidates are instructed not to mark or underline the headnotes.

The notification further states that requests for re-evaluation of answer sheets will not be entertained under Regulation 12. Any representation for relief other than re-evaluation must be submitted within 30 days of the declaration of results.

Candidates who are allotted roll numbers but remain absent for one or more papers will be treated as not adequately prepared. They will not be allowed to sit in any future AOR examination unless permitted by the Board of Examiners on valid grounds. Additionally, candidates who do not appear in all papers but fail in any they do attempt will be considered to have failed in all papers, including those not attempted.

The examination will be conducted in pen-and-paper mode only. Under Regulation 11(iii), candidates who fail in all the papers will not be allowed to appear in the next examination. Further, candidates are limited to five attempts under Regulation 11(iv). Appearance in even a single paper is counted as an attempt. As a one-time relaxation, the examination held in December 2021 will not be counted as an attempt for the purpose of calculating the five permissible chances.

The syllabus for Paper-II (Drafting) includes petitions for special leave, statements of cases, plaints and written statements in suits under Article 131 of the Constitution, review petitions under Article 137, transfer petitions under Section 25 of the Civil Procedure Code, Article 139 and Section 406 of the Criminal Procedure Code, contempt petitions under Article 129, as well as various interlocutory applications such as those related to bail and condonation of delay.

The suggested topics for Paper-III (Advocacy and Professional Ethics) include foundational concepts of the legal profession, duties of advocates, the role of Bar Councils, ethical considerations in the adversarial system, criminal advocacy, lawyer-client relationships, confidentiality, and emerging trends in the structure of the legal profession. Emphasis is placed on practical and ethical dimensions of legal practice, including obligations specific to the Supreme Court.

For Paper-IV (Leading Cases), a detailed list of 86 landmark judgments has been provided, encompassing constitutional, criminal, civil, and administrative law decisions. These include seminal judgments such as Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India, Indra Sawhney v. Union of India, Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India, and several recent additions up to 2024 including Article 370 of the Constitution, In re and Assn. for Democratic Reforms v. Union of India.

The result of the AOR Examination-2024 was declared on January 23, 2025. Candidates falling under Regulation 11(i) or 11(ii) have the option of reappearing in one paper or opting to take the entire examination afresh. This choice must be clearly indicated at the time of filing the application and will be binding once exercised.

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Candidates who have already availed five chances are not eligible for the 2025 examination, except those benefitting from the one-time exclusion of the December 2021 attempt. The fee for the examination is ₹750, payable to the designated UCO Bank account.

All applications—whether submitted in physical or digital format—must include a completed application form with a photograph, a self-attested copy of the enrolment certificate, and the fee receipt. Delay or non-compliance with submission guidelines will result in rejection of the application. The Registry will not be responsible for postal or technical delays.

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