Supreme Court Probes BCI's Regulatory Role in Law Education

The Supreme Court has requested input from the Central government and UGC regarding the Bar Council of India's authority over law schools. An expert body was advocated to oversee academic qualifications, amid differences on BCI's scope in law education regulation.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the Central government's and the University Grants Commission's (UGC) perspectives on the Bar Council of India's (BCI) authority to manage India's law schools' affairs.

The bench, led by Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh, queried the BCI's role in setting academic qualifications, suggesting an expert body should handle such decisions. 'Does BCI prescribe what should be the qualification? You leave it to the body. Why are you carrying others' burden on your shoulder,' Justice Surya Kant commented during the session.

During the hearing, Senior Advocate Vivek Tankha, representing the BCI, noted a decision to establish an expert committee, while Senior Advocate A M Singhvi, for the Consortium of NLUs, argued the BCI is overstepping into non-LLM course qualifications. The bench directed an order for the Centre and UGC to file responses within four weeks.

(With inputs from agencies.)