Lok Sabha Question No. 3129 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-17
Subject: Law University and Colleges
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: VIRENDRA  KUMAR, RAGHAV LAKHANPAL, BALASUBRAMANIAM SENGUTTUVAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF LEGAL AFFAIRS

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## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3129 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.12.2015

## Law University and Colleges

## †3129. DR. VIRENDRA KUMAR: SHRI RAGHAV LAKHANPAL: SHRI B. SENGUTTUVAN:

Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state:

- (a) the criteria for setting up of Law Universities/Colleges in the country along with the details of such universities/colleges functioning in the country at present, State/ UT-wise;
- (b) whether the Government has received any proposals or proposes to set up Law University/National  Law  College  in  the  country  and  if  so,  the  details  and  the  present  status thereof, State/UT-wise;
- (c) whether the Government/Bar Council of India (BCI) is aware of declining standards of legal education in the country and if so, the steps taken/being taken by the Government/BCI in this regard;
- (d) whether the Government/BCI is aware that some students of doubtful antecedents are admitted to law courses by many law colleges/universities after taking huge sum of fees/donations and if so, the action taken by the Government/BCI in this regard; and
- (e)  the  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government/BCI  to  strictly  regulate  such  institutions  and grant recognition to new institutions only after fulfilling the prescribed criteria?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE (SHRI D.V. SADANANDA GOWDA)

(a)  :  The  Bar  Council  of  India  (BCI)  has  informed  that  the  detailed  criteria  for  setting  up  Law University/Colleges in the country is laid down in 'The Rules of Legal Education, 2008' framed by the Bar Council of India under Part-IV of BCI Rules. As per Rules of Legal Education, 2008, every new college needs to get affiliation of law degree from the concerned University on the basis of inspection done by the team of University and then the institution is required to apply for No Objection Certificate from  the  concerned  State  Government.  Once  affiliation  is  granted  by  the  University  concerned,  only then the concerned institution can apply before the Bar Council of India for approval of the affiliation. After receipt of such applications for approval, the team of BCI visits the concerned University/Institution to verify the facts/documents and submits its report. The report is placed before the Legal Education Committee of BCI, which after examining the Report and the affiliation granted by University and NOC of the State Government, either grants or declines the approval.

## Norms for new Universities as per the Legal Education Committee Rules, 2008

1. Required infrastructural facilities outlined by  University  Grants Commission (UGC) under the BCI Rules;
2. Required number of teaching faculties as prescribed by the UGC and BCI;
3. Facilities for running practical legal education specified in the curriculum under the Rules and run Legal Aid Clinic, Court Training and Moot Court exercises;
4. Adequate  library,  computer  and  technical  facilities  including  on-line  library  facility,  course materials; and
5. In  case  of  a  Center  of  Legal  Education  sponsored  by  private  initiative  of  a  person,  there  is  a Capital  Fund  as  required  in  the  Schedule  III  by  the  Bar  Council  of  India  from  time  to  time, deposited in the Bank Account in the name of the Center of Legal Education concerned.

## Norms for Law Colleges as per the Legal Education Committee Rules, 2008 : The Institution

1. Is either already a non-profit organization of trust or registered society or non-profit company or any other such legal entity or has taken all legal formalities to be as such;
2. Has  in  its  name  either  in  freehold  or  lease  hold,  adequate  land  and  buildings,  to  provide  for Centre of Legal Education building, library, halls of residences separately for male and female and  sports  complex  both  indoor  and  outdoor,  so  that  it  can  effectively  run  professional  law courses provided that in case of leasehold the lease is not less than ten years;
3. Has recruited or taken steps to recruit adequate number of full time and visiting faculty members to teach each subjects of studies, each faculty having at least a Master Degree in the respective subject as required under the UGC Rules;
4. Has the separate Centers of Legal Education for the study of law under a separate Principal who should be qualified in the Law to be a Professor of Law as stipulated under UGC and BCI rules;
5. Has  adequate  space  for  reading  in  the  library  and  there  are  required  number  of  books  and journals and adequate number of computers and computer terminals under a qualified librarian;
6. Has obtained NOC, if the prior permission of the State Government is necessary;
7. Has a minimum Capital Fund as may be required under Schedule III from time to time by the BCI,  and  put  into  a  Bank  Account  in  the  name  of  the  proposed  Center  of  Legal  Education sponsored by any private sponsor or sponsors; and
8. Has all other conditions of affiliation under the University Rules as well as the BCI Rules are complied with.

## Details of State/UT wise Law Universities and Law Colleges

|   Sl. No. | Name of the State/UT   |   Number of University |   Total College |
|-----------|------------------------|------------------------|-----------------|
|         1 | Andhra Pradesh         |                     16 |              60 |
|         2 | Arunchal Pradesh       |                      3 |               3 |
|         3 | Assam                  |                      4 |              29 |
|         4 | Bihar                  |                     10 |              28 |
|         5 | Chhatishgarh           |                      7 |              25 |
|         6 | Delhi                  |                      4 |              19 |
|         7 | Goa                    |                      1 |               2 |
|         8 | Jharkhand              |                      5 |              14 |
|         9 | Gujarat                |                     16 |              78 |
|        10 | Haryana                |                     20 |              36 |
|        11 | Jammu and Kashmir      |                      2 |              16 |
|        12 | Himachal Pradesh       |                      8 |              17 |
|        13 | Karnataka              |                      6 |             108 |

|   14. | Kerala         |   6 |   28 |
|-------|----------------|-----|------|
|    15 | Madhya Pradesh |  13 |  121 |
|    16 | Manipur        |   1 |    3 |
|    17 | Maharashtra    |  14 |  129 |
|    18 | Maghalaya      |   3 |    6 |
|    19 | Mizoram        |   1 |    1 |
|    20 | Nagaland       |   1 |    3 |
|    21 | Odisha         |   7 |   32 |
|    22 | Pondicherry    |   1 |    2 |
|    23 | Punjab         |   7 |   33 |
|    24 | Rajasthan      |  32 |  105 |
|    25 | Sikkim         |   2 |    2 |
|    26 | Tamil Nadu     |   7 |   16 |
|    27 | Tripura        |   2 |    2 |
|    28 | Uttar Pradesh  |  32 |  320 |
|    29 | Uttrakhand     |   5 |   30 |
|    30 | West Bengal    |  13 |   37 |

- (b) : The Bar Council of India has informed that it has received 116 new proposals for setting up new Law Colleges for the year 2015-16, in which 80 applications have been found fit and are in order. These institutions have submitted all required documents. The remaining 36 applications are incomplete i.e. they have not produced NOC from the State Government and affiliation order from the concerned University, list of faculty appointed, etc. Details of Law Colleges State/UT wise which applied for approval is as under:-

|   Sl. No | State/UT                                              |   Number |
|----------|-------------------------------------------------------|----------|
|        1 | Andhra Pradesh                                        |        2 |
|        2 | Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland &Tripura |        5 |
|        3 | Bihar                                                 |        1 |
|        4 | Chhattisgarh                                          |        2 |
|        5 | Delhi                                                 |        1 |
|        6 | Gujarat                                               |       19 |
|        7 | Himachal Pradesh                                      |        5 |
|        8 | Karnataka                                             |        4 |
|        9 | Kerala                                                |        1 |
|       10 | Madhya Pradesh                                        |        3 |
|       11 | Maharashtra &Goa                                      |        8 |
|       12 | Punjab &Haryana                                       |       10 |
|       13 | Rajasthan                                             |       10 |
|       14 | Tamil Nadu &Pondicherry                               |        1 |
|       15 | Uttarakhand                                           |        6 |
|       16 | Uttar Pradesh                                         |       35 |
|       17 | West Bengal                                           |        3 |

Universities are established either by the Act of Parliament or by Act of the State Government concerned or by a notification from the Government of India. The Law Colleges/National Law School are set-up by State Government/Trust/Registered Societies and Private Management etc. At present there is no proposal with the Government to set up new Law University/College.

(c)  :  The  Bar  Council  of  India  has  informed  that  there  is  no  decline  in  the  standard  of  Legal Education. Further, the BCI is strictly implementing its norms/Rules of Legal Education, 2008 to maintain  the  standard  of  Legal  Education  in  the  country.  If  the  Council  finds  that  any College/University imparting legal education is not fulfilling the norms set by the BCI, actions are taken by way of issuing show cause notice to the institution as well as to the University. In case  BCI  is  not  satisfied  with  the  compliance,  it  declines  the  approval  of  the  College  and recommends closing down of the College.  The  concerned  State  Government  is  also  informed about it.

(d) : The Bar Council of India has informed that it is not aware of any such incidents regarding students of doubtful antecedents being admitted to law courses. Further, the BCI has informed that the Colleges give admission in the law course as per the norms prescribed by the concerned University, with which the college is affiliated. Most of the Universities are having provision in their admission form seeking antecedent details of the students while giving admission.

(e) : The Bar Council of India has informed that it is strictly following the norms to regulate the legal education in the country. The Council has also requested the State Governments to follow the norms strictly while issuing NOC to the new Institutions, including verification whether the new proposal for that area is necessary. BCI insists for verification by the University for having proper infrastructure, faculty, library and other necessary amenities and recommendation of the Academic  Council  of  the  University  for  affiliation  as  per  rule  16(1)  and  16(2)  of  the  Legal Education Rules, 2008. Once these two processes are done, only then the institution can apply to the  BCI.  The  BCI  grants  approval  of  affiliation  after  fulfillment  of  the  norms  and  standards prescribed  in  the  Rules  of  Legal  Education,  2008,  proper  inspection  and  verification  by  the inspection  team  of  the  Bar  Council  of  India  and  the  recommendation  of  Legal  Education Committee.

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