BCI Panel recommends closure of DU’s Faculty of Law for lack of infrastructure, faculty, etc

The Bar Council of India has submitted its inspection report of the three Law centres in the Delhi University, recommending the closure of the three centres, in view of the unsatisfactory infrastructure and faculty.The Inspection committee comprised on seven members, headed by retired Rajasthan High Court Judge V S Dave, and included Vice-Chancellor of National Law University Ranbir Singh, Director of Indian Law Institute Manoj Kumar Sinha, and members of the BCI and Delhi Bar Council. The Committee had submitted its report to the High Court in November and was provided to the Delhi University and Law Faculty officials recently.The report stated, ““The committee felt anguished at the attitude of the successive deans of the Faculty of Law, who it appears had not been updating the Central office of the University of Delhi and the UGC for over four decades, which has resulted not only in the present state of affairs and but also in poor infrastructure and deteriorating standard on the academic side.”“We are of the view that the Campus Law Centre should be closed down, but seeing the career of the students as well as the reputation of the university, a lenient view may be taken,” the report for the three Centres said in the conclusion.It further suggests that the students enrolled in the University in 2014-15 would be given a “conditional temporary approval of affiliation” subject to the university fulfilling several conditions. Further, the intake of students from 2015-16, as per the report, will “necessarily depend upon the appointment of adequate faculty as well as improved infrastructure.”The number of students enrolled was also found to be “far more than required” as per the UGC and BCI rules. Further, the Committee noted that the basic subjects such as moot court and professional ethics were not being taught in the college.Bar Council of India (BCI) had decided to derecognize DU’s law course taught at its three centres, namely Campus Law Centre, Law Centre 1 and Law Centre 2. This meant that students admitted in these centres from 2011-12 onwards won’t be eligible to be enrolled as advocates and can’t practice.In a letter sent to state bar councils accessed by Live Law on September 22, the Bar Council of India (BCI), had declared not to enroll them as advocates as the Law Faculty failed to obtain “extension of approval of affiliation” from BCI despite repeated reminders. Read the LiveLaw story here.An application for affiliation and inspection under the Legal Education Rules to the Bar Council of India was sent by DU to the BCI in October. Read the LiveLaw story here.Delhi University Law Faculty Dean Professor Ashwani Kumar Bansal had then written a letter to the Bar Council of India, expressing shock about the drastic step that has been taken by Bar Council of India. Read the letter here.Consequently, DU had decided in January to shift its law faculty out of its 90 years old campus. Read the LiveLaw story here.You may read more news about the issue here.

BCI Panel recommends closure of DU’s Faculty of Law for lack of infrastructure, faculty, etc

Apoorva Mandhani

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