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Confusion prevails as Maharashtra faces BCI deadlock over 64 law college affiliations

The Bar Council of India rejected Maharashtra’s request for time to meet its Legal Education Rules on infrastructure of government and aided law colleges in the state, with the result that those colleges will not be able to take admissions this year, reported the Times of India.

Maharashtra’s higher and technical education minister Vinod Tawade told the TOI that the state sought two years from the BCI to fulfil its requirement of having sufficient faculty in these colleges, but the BCI is unwilling to give additional time to the state as they were already overdue in 2013.

Tawde commented to TOI: “Also aided colleges are unable to fill the posts which are already sanctioned. Qualified teachers in law faculty are not easily available. To increase the teachers’ strength and meet the required student-teacher ratio of 40:1, colleges will need to create space. It is not possible to do so in the existing infrastructure in colleges.”

Last week the Bar Council of India (BCI) reportedly, according to an anonymous BCI member quoted by the Times of India, disaffiliated GLC Mumbai, KC Law College, GJ Advani Law College and Jitendra Chauhan College of Law. The BCI declared 64 of 127 law schools in Maharashtra ineligible for taking admissions this year. All these colleges do not have the number of teachers required under the Legal Education Rules, according to the report.

According to Bar & Bench, BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra “confirmed the decision” and that “notices had been given” to all colleges, saying “large number of colleges in Maharashtra including GLC, Mumbai don’t have proper infrastructure and faculty”. B&B did not report Mishra elaborating further on the exact content of the notices.

We have reached out to BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra for comment but have not received a response.

New Law College in Matunga (Rs 19.5 lakh), Siddharth College, Fort, and Ambedkar College, Wadala (Rs 7.5 lakh), VPM College in Thane (Rs 13.5 lakh) and Lords College (Rs 9.5 lakh) have been asked to pay the penalty for not adhering to BCI norms and not appointing teachers, according to TOI.

The principal of one of the debarred colleges commented to the TOI: “The four colleges which have been debarred are in fact the better of the lot. These colleges have more sanctioned teachers than the rest. Our colleges are also the most sought-after ones. It is not our fault that the government has not sanctioned the posts in the colleges for whatever reasons.”On 16 August, the Times had reported that in Mumbai only KC, Jitendra Chauhan and GJ Advani law colleges had been denied approvals for admission.

A 20 August report by websitehttp://examswatch.com/bci-to-take-up-the-law-colleges-approval-issue-today/ Examswatch also did not name GLC Mumbai in the list.

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