Law schools, legal education: India
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Law colleges in India, state-wise
It could be easier to get permission to set up a law college in India than to get a law degree. A list of law colleges prepared by the Bar Council of India (BCI) shows that Uttar Pradesh has 351law colleges, more than any other state in India, and that one of its little-known universities, Shri Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj University in Kanpur, has 88 affiliated colleges awarding law degrees.
Of these 88 colleges, 44 were given permission to impart legal education in just two years, between 2014 and 2016. Popular UP varsity Chaudhary Charan Singh (CCS) University in Meerut has no less than 101 law colleges. The university affiliated a record 54 colleges in just four years, between 2012 and 2016, to conduct degree-level courses.
The mushrooming of law colleges in UP is indicative of the popularity of legal degrees, which attract students from across the country . This has, however, raised concerns in the legal and judicial fraternity about the quality of the advocates these institutions are churning out in hundreds.
“It's a matter of concern that some of the universities have given too many affiliations to start law colleges. We are looking into some cases in UP and Andhra Pradesh,“ BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra told TOI. However, he said the responsibility largely lay with state governments, which grant no-objection certi ficates after verifying that the colleges have adequate infrastructure to start degree courses.
Elite or well-known universities like Allahabad University , the Banaras Hindu University and Aligarh Muslim University have just one or two law colleges. Of the 1,500-odd law colleges in India as of May 2016, MP accounts for the second-highest statewise figure with at least 143 listed law colleges, followed by Maharashtra (139), Karnataka (115) and Rajasthan (110).
In MP, Barkatullah University , Bhopal, has 29 affiliated law colleges; Awadhesh Pratap Singh University , Rewa, has 21; and Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore, has 24. However, at least five of the Indore varsity's affiliates are under show cause notices debarring admissions. According to the BCI list, Rajasthan University in Jaipur has 41affiliated law colleges, most of which were set up after 2003.
The directions of the superior courts
Age bar for LLB admission: SC rules against it
AmitAnand Choudhary, SC: No age bar for LLB admission, March 4, 2017: The Times of India
Students aspiring to pursue law in the coming academic session will be able to apply for admission irrespective of their age as the Supreme Court stayed on Friday the Bar Council of India's decision to fix upper age limit of 22 years for the five-year LLB programme and 45 years for the three-year course.
A bench of Justice S A Bobde and Justice L N Rao said the age restriction fixed by BCI prima facie seemed unreasonable and would prevent students from pursuing law education. Initially, BCI had fixed upper age limit at 20 years for the five-year course and 30 years for the three-year course, but it revised the age limit and made it 22 years and 45 years respectively for the two courses after the apex court asked it to reconsider its decision in larger public interest.
Advocate A K Prasad, appearing for BCI, told the bench it had increased the upper age limit on the suggestion given by the apex court but the bench was not satisfied and stayed the notification, paving the way for the students to appear in the law entrance examination irre spective of age.
Questioning BCI's decision, the bench said that the council was on one hand promoting law education in the country , but on the other trying to restrict students from pursuing law education. The court said that it would adjudicate constitutional validity of the decision and stayed its implementation till it decided the case.
“It will not serve any purpose. What is big deal about fixing the age limitation.There is a demand from society (for doing away with age restriction) and you have to consider it. You go around promoting legal education and here BCI puts restrictions. We stay the decision,“ the bench said.
NEET in Urdu?
The Supreme Court sought explanation from the Centre and the Medical Council of India on whyUrdu has not been included as one of the languages for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test . Besides English and Hindi, students aspiring for admission to medical colleges can take the exam in only one of these 8 regional languages -Gujarati, Marathi, Odiya, Bengali, Assamese, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada.
Law universities must hold classes as per bar council norms: HC
HC: Law univs must hold classes as per bar council norms, July 7, 2018: The Times of India
Universities and colleges imparting legal education must hold minimum number of classes prescribed by the Bar Council of India, the Delhi high court has ruled.
Coming to the rescue of hundreds of Delhi University law faculty students not permitted to sit for examinations, HC came down heavily on the faculty for not holding minimum classes and blaming students for shortage of attendance.
Granting relief to the law students, Justice Rekha Palli said the shortfall of attendance was due to “failure of faculty of law to conduct minimum classes as prescribed under the Bar Council of India rules.”
The court passed a slew of directions and directed the law faculty members to conduct, within eight weeks, at least 139 hours of extra classes/tutorials for those students who are desirous to attend the lectures to make up for shortage of attendance.
The court made the directions while disposing of 21 separate petitions filed by 53 students, challenging the memorandum issued by the law faculty on May 7, May 8 and May 10.
