Bar Council dictating legal education syllabus a tragedy says Kerala HC judge; BCI condemns it

A Kerala High Court judge has said that the Bar Council dictating syllabus of legal education in law schools was the biggest tragedy the country was facing, evoking a sharp criticism from the apex lawyers body, Bar Council of India BCI, which termed the comment as irresponsible.Justice Mustaque Muhamed, while speaking at the online launch of a mentoring platform -- Juris Trailblazers -- for young lawyers, had on Sunday said that a few elected Bar Council officials were deciding what law colleges in the country should teach and it was the biggest tragedy and challenge that India was facing.

A Kerala High Court judge has said that the Bar Council dictating syllabus of legal education in law schools was the ''biggest tragedy'' the country was facing, evoking a sharp criticism from the apex lawyers' body, Bar Council of India (BCI), which termed the comment as ''irresponsible''.

Justice Mustaque Muhamed, while speaking at the online launch of a mentoring platform -- 'Juris Trailblazers' -- for young lawyers, had on Sunday said that a few elected Bar Council officials were deciding what law colleges in the country should teach and it was the ''biggest tragedy and challenge'' that India was facing. He further said that those in the Bar Council are only litigation professionals, whose domain knowledge is only concerned with litigation, who do not have an idea as to what is happening beyond that. ''No college has the autonomy to decide its curriculum and if they do not follow the curriculum dictated by the Bar Council, necessarily they will have to face some sort of penal action and not be recognised,'' he said. He further said that as law colleges cannot decide the curriculum, students passing out from there cannot think beyond the syllabus and are ''bogged down'' by knowledge that is stereotypical. ''When they come out, they just follow the path of the lawyers and law firms and that is where they fail themselves,'' Justice Mustaque said. He said that litigation was a miniscule part of the legal profession and one's competence and future standing will depend on the ideas one has and how one responds to the changing times. ''For that, it is quite difficult for you to have knowledge from the law schools for the simple reason that their curriculum is fixed in such a manner that you cannot think beyond the syllabus. ''You need to think in a new way when you leave a law school,'' he said and added that is where mentoring plays a vital role through constant engagement and proper communication to guide someone. Justice Mustaque's comments was severely criticised and ''strongly condemned'' by the BCI which termed the remarks as ''bizarre'' and ''irresponsible''. ''Only because he is a judge, he does not have liberty to pass any comment against anybody or any organisation without having proper knowledge about it,'' a statement, issued by BCI Co-Chairman Ved Prakash Sharma, said. The BCI said that its elected representatives have constituted a high-level committee to deal with the matters relating to legal education. ''The Bar Council of India has a separate body for the matters relating to legal education of the country. The Committee is headed by a former Judge of the Supreme Court and it has two sitting Chief Justices of High Courts as its Co-chairs.

''Besides, there are two former Chief Justices of High Courts and eleven renowned academicians, including Vice Chancellors of National Law Universities, Deans of Central Universities and other Government and Private Law Universities as its members apart from some noted senior advocates of the country,'' it said in the statement. The BCI said that policies and norms of legal education are decided by the High Level Committee which has only five elected members of the lawyers body. ''Thus, the decisions are virtually taken by the judges and the law teachers. The elected body in order to improve the standard of Legal Education, has included experienced teachers and technologically advanced people on board to keep pace with advancing technology,'' it further said. The BCI also said that ''people suffering from inferiority complex and who have a feeling in their minds that only a few foreign universities are very good, make such irresponsible comments''. It said, ''The Bar Council of India is committed to maintain and improve the standard of legal education in the country. Bar Council of India has also constituted an Advisory Board for the Development of Legal Education and Legal Profession, which consists of several Judges of the Supreme Court of India including the Chief Justice of India, several senior advocates and noted law teachers.''