BCI To Withdraw Appeal Against Punjab & Haryana HC Order Against Moratorium On Opening Of New Law Colleges

In effect, the moratorium has been revoked from the Council's end.

The BCI has resolved to appoint a Committee that will consider drafting of Rules for moratorium.

Further, the BCI will undertake surprise visits of Colleges/ Centres of Legal Education which, presently, may not be workable till the pandemic is over as mostly all educational institutions are closed.

The NOC to open a Law College is issued by the State Government Concerned in whose jurisdiction the college is proposed to be opened. Thereafter, the University with which the College applies for affiliation, grants affiliation to the college to run a particular law degree course. It is, thereafter, at the third stage, the matter comes to the BCI to consider whether to grant or decline approval of the affiliation already granted by the University.

With a view to improve the standards of providing legal education in India by curtailing the mushrooming growth of Law colleges, the Bar Council of India had in August 2019, imposed moratorium for a period of three years on opening of New Law Colleges/Centers of Legal Education.

The moratorium was set aside by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in December 2020 as ultra vires the Indian Constitution.

As the BCI has decided to not insist on further moratorium, it has requested the State Governments to be very diligent before granting NOC and urge them to take into consideration, the population ratio and the need for such a centre of legal education at the designated place before granting NOC.

It has requested all the State Governments to fill up all the vacancies of teachers within a period of 3 months. It is stipulated that new Law Teachers would be required to acquire proper training, and only then they would be allowed to teach in any Centers of Legal Education.

"In 80 per cent of Government Institutions, more than 50 percent seats of teachers are vacant. The State Governments are not showing any interest in filling up the vacancies. This is a matter of serious concern," the Council in a press note issued today.

Furthermore, the Universities are requested to carry out inspection and scrutiny of the Institutions in a meticulous manner, and, only thereafter, consider to grant, affiliation.

"The Bar Council of India is not going to compromise with the standard of Legal Education and the Universities are advised to affiliate Law Colleges only with better infrastructure to compete with international standards. Mushrooming of Law Colleges has to be stopped at any costs," it said.

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