BCI Turns Down Applications for 55 Law Colleges

The BCI (Bar Council of India) rejected the request for recognition of 55 law colleges that were planning on starting fresh law courses. This move by the BCI is seen as an attempt to limit the number of law colleges offering legal undergraduate courses.

The council’s decision came after long deliberations on the applications received by the BCI to start fresh law courses between July 2019 and December 2019. The majority of law institutions from Uttar Pradesh had sent in the applications. A senior member shared the concern claiming that the move of BCI had the potential of spurring a series of litigation.

As per the procedure, an institution approaches the council for the approval of affiliations after the state university grants it the same. BCI is not only an apex disciplinary body for lawyers but it also regulates legal education. The senior member cited above also states that the procedure involves the college to first develop the infrastructure and then apply for a no-objection certificate to the state government higher education department. Thereafter, the affiliation is provided by the state university which is approved by the BCI after receiving the application from the institute.

The 55 declined applications by colleges were accorded affiliation from their respective state university. Ved Prakash Sharma, the BCI co-chairman, said that they were expecting the colleges to go to court and they were ready with their counter-argument. He believes that there is no need for more law colleges as the ones available are sufficient to feed the present legal system. The meeting was chaired by the BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra.

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BCI’s decision depicts its sustainable efforts to improve the standards of the existing law colleges. The body has recently come under the radar for approving the institutions flouting the University of Grants Commission (UGC) norms in terms of paying salaries to teachers and basic infrastructure.

The Supreme Court advocate Gyanant Singh praised the BCI’s efforts of making the existing colleges accountable and also the move of stopping the opening of any more colleges. He believes that in the past years, multiple law colleges have opened up but they lacked the basic amenities and infrastructure like the library. They charge high fees but do not provide basic quality education to the students who are later found lacking in the legal skills when joining the profession.

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The move made by BCI is highly commendable and only upon making the changes in the existing law colleges will the legal system of the nation expand quality-wise.