UP: Quality of Law Education Declining with Abundance of Law Colleges
Uttar Pradesh has the largest number of law colleges in India i.e. 350 colleges and experts in the field are concerned that this can hamper the quality of law education and the cadre of lawyers.
According to the reports of the Bar Council of India, Uttar Pradesh has the largest number of law colleges in India. The state has 350 law colleges and experts in the field are concerned that this can hamper the quality of law education and the cadre of lawyers that pass out every year.
Close to 100 law colleges in the state have mushroomed over the span of 2 to 3 years. 88 law colleges are affiliated to Shri Chatrapati Shahuji Maharaj University, Kanpur. Out of these, 44 law colleges got permission between 2014 and 2016.
On the other hand, Chaudhary Charan Singh (CCS) University, Meerut, has 101 law colleges affiliated to it. Out of these 101 colleges offering LL.B courses, 54 colleges got approval within a span of 4 years i.e. from 2012 and 2016.
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The drastic increase in the number of law colleges in UP is due to the increasing demand for Law programmes. The legal profession is quite popular in India but the rapid growth of colleges negatively impacts the quality of education and as raised concerns in the legal and judicial fraternity.
Chairman of Bar Council of India, Manan Kumar Mishra said that a university holding out too many affiliations for law colleges is a matter of concern. He also added that such cases are being investigated in UP and Andhra Pradesh.
There are close to 1500 law colleges in India. It is the responsibility of the state government to verify whether or not the college has the appropriate infrastructure and facilities before granting no-objection certificates, Mishra added.
List of states with maximum law colleges:
| Name of the State | Number of Law Colleges |
| Uttar Pradesh | 350 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 143 |
| Maharashtra | 139 |
| Karnataka | 115 |
| Rajasthan | 110 |
Rajasthan University, Jaipur, has a similar case with 41 law colleges affiliated to it. Majority of these colleges were established after 2003. Other universities in the state have also given affiliations to more than a dozen colleges.
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In Madhya Pradesh, 29 law colleges are affiliated to the Barkatullah University, Bhopal. Also, the Awadhesh Pratap Singh University, Rewa and Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore have 22 and 24 law colleges affiliated to them respectively. Some of these colleges were also issued show cause notices debarring admissions to these institutes.