New Delhi, July 4: The Supreme Court today refused to stay a Kerala High Court order allowing priests and nuns to enrol as advocates, reports our legal correspondent.

The court, however, said the matter had to be decided conclusively and admitted a petition by the Bar Council of India (BCI) challenging the March 21 order.

The BCI has pleaded that according to rules under the Advocates Act, a person engaged in another profession cannot enrol as an advocate despite holding a law degree.

It contended the high court had failed to appreciate that admission to the legal profession was governed by the rules under the Advocates Act and not by the fact that priests and nuns could also take up employment in other professions.

It pointed to a 1996 Sup-reme Court order noting that “legal profession requires fulltime attention and would not countenance an advocate riding two horses or more at a time. He had to be a full-time advocate or not at all”.