OPEN LETTER TO CHAIRMAN, BAR COUNCIL OF INDIA

Dear Mr. Subramaniam,

 Recent media reports(Hindustan Times, 03/05/10) suggest that the Bar Council of India is introducing a qualifying bar examination from September,2010.

 We are writing this mail to draw your attention to some of the concerns of final year law students on the introduction of the bar examination in July-August,2010. As responsible law students and soon to be members of the bar we do not wish to question this reform, which is in the interest of the country and has wide support of the legal community. Even the Supreme Court of India has backed this step in Bar Council of India v. Bonnie Foi Law College. We feel such a step is necessary to regulate the quality of legal education in India and to meet the challenges posed by the demand for quality legal services due to globalization and rapid growth of the Indian economy.

 Our concerns are as follows: 

1. The conduct of these exams in September will mean that final year students seeking enrollment with the bar will have no opportunity to prepare for the same, as till date neither the examination nor the syllabus for the same has been notified.
2. Since Final year law students will get limited time for preparation many of them may not qualify, they will remain unemployed for a year and in a competitive job market the long-term impact on their careers could be disastrous.
3. Law students who have received job offers contingent on their registration with the bar will be adversely affected as they will not be able to join their future employers.
4. Law schools with three year law courses like University of Delhi will be subject of discrimination as most National Law School students would pass their exams and enroll with the bar by May/June itself, while students of University of Delhi and other law faculties will get their results of their final term examinations only in July/August.
5. The examination may not be conducted efficiently and fairly in a hurried manner and the failure of the first bar exam will be unfortunate and may jeopardize the public  support for the exam.

 We would request you to ensure that in order to give a fair chance to law students who have not had notice of this exam, such law students may be admitted to the bar subject to their clearing the Bar Examination in 2010 or at the next attempt 2011. In this way final year law students will get a fair chance at the exam and their careers would be safe guarded.

 The essence of the constitutional guarantee of Art.14 is non-arbitrariness. This decision announced at the fag end of the academic session does not give a fair chance to final year law students. Further it disrupts employment contracts entered into much prior to the announcement of this decision.  This decision will jeopardize the careers of not only those who may fail any prospective exam but even of those who will pass it, as they maybe unable to secure the support of their prospective employers to wait till September to take them on board.

 We trust that you shall consider our concerns and make a reasonable exception and admit law students to the bar in June/July/August subject to their passing the exam in September 2010 or September 2011.

 We hope that the macro concerns of implementing this policy will not cause you to overlook the micro concerns of final year law students, who are now anxious about their future.

 We entrust our future to you.

 Sincerely

Collective of Final Year Law Students