LL.B Admission: Kerala HC Issues Notice On Plea Seeking Relaxation Of Minimum Qualifying Marks For Persons With Disabilities

The High Court of Kerala on Wednesday issued notice on a writ petition seeking relaxation of the requirement of 45% minimum qualifying marks for admission to three-year LL.B for persons with disabilities.

The petition filed by Madhu. V and Bindhu K.A - who suffer from 50% loco motor disabiltiy on account of polio - challenges Rule 7 of the Rules for Legal Education, 2008 framed by the BCI which stipulates that a candidate should have a minimum of 45% marks in the graduate course.

The petitioners, who have passed B.Com and B.A English courses respectively with 38% marks, argue that insistence on 45% marks for differently-abled persons, over and above the minimum pass mark of 35%, is arbitrary and unreasonable.

The petitioners further cite the provisions of the Right of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 to contend that they are entitled to relaxations in the minimum qualifying marks. Section 3 of the Act state that no person with disability shall be discriminated on the ground of disability, 

The petitioners' lawyers, Advocates S K Adithyan and Keerthi S Jyothi, argued that the non-relaxation of the minimum qualifying marks for persons with disabilities amounted to denial of equal opportunities for them on the ground of disability.

For admission to three-year LL.B course in law colleges, whether you are differently-abled or not a person, needs to have minimum of 45% marks in General Category and 40% marks for SC/ST candidates in their degree/graduation course. A person with disability is not given any separate minimum marks for qualification to LL.B degree, the petition points out.

The petition seeks a declaration that insisting on 45% marks for physically disabled candidates than bare minimum pass marks in qualifying examination i.e. 35% for admission to LL.B(3 year) Course in Ext.P6 violates article 14, 19 & 21 of the Constitution of India and also the statutory mandate under Section 3 of the Right of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.