The Mumbai Mirror wrote about a gentleman this week who is "probably city's oldest law student" at 80 years of age. If so, he is lucky to have slipped through the age-barrier net that has been woven by the Bar Council of India (BCI).
Uddhav Alkari (not pictured) is an ex-employee of Madhya Pradesh State Secondary Education Board and the father of three children. According to tabloid Mumbai Mirror, he waited until his children were well settled to follow his dream of studying law.
He has had a tough time getting there, even without the BCI rules, as his 1967 exam scores were too low for law school admission and he had to get to law school in a round-about way.
In any case, hearty congratulations to Mr Alkari for his efforts and achievement.
However, despite most BCI members probably being of the same generation as Alkari, the body would probably not be pleased for him.
The Bar Council of India, Rules of Education, 2008 schedule III clause 28 stipulates that general category students seeking admission for BA (law) courses should not be above 20 while the age limit for the reserved category is 22 years.
The candidates for post-graduation course (LLB), in the general category should not be over 30 while for the reserved category the age limit is 35.
The Law Commission of India led by chairman A R Lakshmanan had also endorsed this rule.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court recently stayed all further proceedings in 12 High Courts on petitions challenging the Bar Council of India Rule fixing upper age limit for admission to LLB.
Delhi University Faculty of Law alumni Shilpi Gupta had studied with much older classmates and believes there is some value in the new BCI rule.
"A majority of students in our class belonged to the age group of 30 and above," she tells Legally India, "consisting of working professionals who were not interested in serious pursuit of law as a career, but rather hoped for advancement in their established fields."
"Therefore, BCI's mandate on imposing maximum age limit for admission to a law school is a welcome step. It will ensure that more seats are available for younger candidates for whom law is a preferred career option and not a tool for value addition."
Photo by Sukanto Debnath
threads most popular
thread most upvoted
comment newest
first oldest
first
The commenter who mentioned that there were much older classmates in class in DU should also know that these older people brought a wealth of knowledge to the class. In these older people there were doctors, engineers, CAs, CSs, police, other government service employees and in general, it was a multifarious gathering.
It was my personal experience (yes I am also a DU alumni-law center -II) that these people bring a wealth of knowledge to the classroom. At times even the professors used to defer to the depth of knowledge of the professional.
As regards the point made that "working professionals not interested in serious pursuit of law as a career, but rather hoped for advancement in their established fields."- The only thing I can say is that-At least these people know what they want out of their career.
I end with a saying from an old lawyer: A profession matures from a kid to an adult as the professional becomes old.
I qualified as a lawyer while in my twenties and have been in corporate practise for a few years now.
I clearly remember a few girls who were also in their twenties and had merely blocked seats as they considered this to be an excuse and perhaps the only opportunity to venture out of home as they seemed to come from rather conservative families. Then there were a few who considered law admissions to be nothing more than a natural extension of the fun n frolic enjoyed as B.Com. / B.A. / Bsc. Students....Needless to say almost all of these ‘Young Law Students’ quit in the 2nd or 3rd year as the enjoyment curve seemed to be coming to an untimely end and it was proving to be difficult to keep up with the curriculum for them.
I also remember one student taking admission in LLB simply for the sake of completing the 1st year only!! The reason – B.A. in India is a 3 years graduation degree course. However, comparable graduation courses in US are 4 year courses. So, for pursuing M.A. or equivalent in US one needs to complete an extra year at any Indian university to become eligible for admissions to a university in US... Of course, later on I realised that there were a bunch of ‘Block Seats for Single Year’ students from well to do families who had enrolled and who never took up 2nd year of LLB as they secured admissions with universities in US.
Every year, thousands of ‘Young Lawyers’ pass out from various universities in India and a majority of them (particularly women) DONOT join the profession... It is a well known fact that several ‘Young Men’ enrol for law as it helps project a better social image for securing HIGHER DOWERY from prospective brides. Similarly, i have seen ‘Young Women’ enrol for law for the sole intent of securing a wealthy groom in marriage.
Even among the ones who do join the profession many ‘Young Lawyers’ (particularly women) simply quit practicing for various reasons.... I have seen sitting Judges of High Court commenting on this aspect on more than one occasion!
NOW CONTRAST THIS with 4 ‘Older Students’ of law that i had the occasion to observe:
First of them was a DOCTOR with over 15 years of successful medical practise who went on to specialise in the field of ‘Medical Law’ an almost unknown territory to most ‘Young Lawyers’ (including myself) who even after qualifying are simply not likely to be equipped to understand the intricacies of Medicine, Human Body and inter relation with Medical Law.
Second was the instance of a POLICE OFFICER who in spite of having a successful carrier with the force wanted a deeper knowledge of ‘Criminal Law’ so that he could perform his duties in a more effective and comprehensive manner.. particularly so as he had experienced several instances where some smart lawyer would ensure that criminals went scot free simply on some flimsy technical legal ground after all the hard work he and his colleagues would have put into capturing the offenders.
Third I remember a lady who was a SOCIAL WORKER and who went on to specialise in the area of ‘Law for Women & Children’.
Last, i have a vivid memory of a NUN (or perhaps she was a Christian SISTER of some Order, I am not sure) who would wear a cross and attended law lectures regularly. She wanted to use legal knowledge to help in counselling women particularly ‘Young Girls’ in various aspects regarding ‘Personal Law’ (including rape victims who would be fearful of going to the Police or even consulting practicing advocates) and other social and beneficial work.
I AM SURE the BCI and other authorities must have taken the decision after considerable thought and deliberations and as a relatively ‘Younger Member’ of the Bar it may not be my place to question the collective wisdom of ‘Senior Lawyers’ on why ‘Older People’ should be barred from entering the profession – in effect a bunch of VERY-OLD OLDIES not wanting YOUNG OLDIES to enter the profession!!
What is even more astonishing is that the same ‘Senior Lawyers’ do not seem to have any desire of even retiring from the profession to let some among the younger generation to come forward in the profession with better ideas, better efficiency and perhaps even better professional ethics!
This rule is particularly discriminatory against women. Many women might be forced to put their career dreams on hold while dealing with the pressures of children and family expectations, and may seek to continue their education when these pressures have eased. Such a rule will likely prevent them from doing so; one could certainly show that it has a disparate impact on women.
I am not surprised that a bench full of older men from a patriachal social structure would think such a restriction is a pretty good idea.
In addition, the [post] does not consider that Mr. Alkari could have gained admission prior to the institition of the rule (and delayed admission), or been admitted during the period when operation of the rule was stayed. If he gained admission during the period when the rule was stayed, would he be de-admitted? [This needs to be followed up].
Further, there could be situations where an Indian obtains a law degree abroad from an institition that is approved by the BCI and does not discriminate on the basis of age. Since such discrimination is against the law in, say England or the U.S., Indians should consider studying abroad and then sitting for the equivalency exam administered by the BCI. One could join a long line of distinguished Indian lawyers, such as Ms. Zia Mody, who have never attended a day of law school in India and yet are admitted to the bar in India.
I encourage Indians to study law abroad, where they will not be discriminated against and their desire for knowledge will be honored.
the basic document for admission-ur graduation marksheet-he did not possess that..he communicated with ujjain university n long live those ppl..they actually found out-42 year old marksheet of his BA n forwarded us the same,he only had the degree certificate with him which just mentioned that he cleared his graduation in third division which is lower than 45%,in the meantime we learned about the CET which is conducted by university of mumbai so that students become eligible for taking admission in law,he scored 48 out of 60 in CET which i suppose was 3rd highest..this CET adds 5% to ur graduation marks..we received graduation marksheet which indicated 43% but now we stood at a good 48%..so u can see he had pbls ryt frm d start.
it was august mid till we could compile all the required documents,unfortunately admissions were closed everywhere but thankfully his college gave him a seat,n he was overjoyed.
nanaji is an institution in himself..he gets up at 4 n reaches college evryday at 7.on saturdays n sundays he goes in the morning n evening too(evening lectures r for students who can not attent on weekdays)...
he has done a lot of good work in life.
madhya pradesh state education board did not give pension to its employees.he retired n he had no pension,he was in Indore then,he must have visited bhopal more than 40 times for the same so that this injustice is stopped n employees get pension like other states,he got a self hand written letter from Mr.Chidambaram in this respect appreciationg his fight with the government,
he did graduation when my mom was a toddler n he had a family to take care of.catch his interview on zee news,ibn lokmat,zee marathi on sunday.
I understand that is a chronically resource poor country like India, this may be a burden on the exchequer and . However, now with the arrival of privatised education there is no need for such a 'rule' and it should be left to the institutions to decide whether the want to enforce an age barrier or not.
A person who is is settledown in his field and want to persue law does BCI feels that he is going in the college or study at home for fun..
the person who is mature and has seen the life very closely and knows the importance of LAW degree would feel to join courses. else a person can attain a course in his field and rise more effeciently.
moreover even if a person does a law and continue in his own field then does it mean that he is not going to contribute to society. infact people will come to take his advice as he would be giving advice free of cost and without any hide knowlege (as sometimes advocates give for filling a false case and to earn their bread).
infact I should say BCI should move back to its old stand where a person can go for evening or corespondance course. let say those students have to join batch of 15 days each in thrice a year plus they should have to go 6 months practice under an advocate before attaining the certificate.
MAKE EDUCATION LIBERAL... SO THAT MORE PEOPLE GET EDUCATION.
infact law knowledge and miltary training should be made compulsory atleast one year after graduation. it is a need of india.
If an indiividual can earn his place on merit, the losers cannot cry foul and claim they have been prevented from obtaining a job.
threads most popular
thread most upvoted
comment newest
first oldest
first