Surprise inspections to be conducted at 500 law institutes deemed "sub-standard" by BCI: Law Ministry

The Bar Council of India (BCI) has earmarked around 500 law institutes in the country that are sub-standard, and teams led by some former judges, Senior Advocates and academicians will conduct surprise visits to the same..Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju revealed the same in reply to a parliamentary question in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday."As regards, the yardsticks in examinations, and stringent control and monitoring of law colleges for compliance is concerned, the Bar Council of India has informed that in order to revamp the system, it has earmarked about 500 Institution throughout the country who are sub-standard/below standard and team led by some former Judge(s)/Senior Advocate(s) noted academicians plan to conduct surprise visits of such Institutions and if any Institution is found to be below standard i.e. having no sufficient number of faculties/infrastructure, then the Legal Education Committee of BCI shall take immediate step to close such Institutions," the reply stated..Rijiju added that a high-level committee comprising Senior Advocates and former judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts has been constituted to look into the observations by the Supreme Court in Bar Council of India v. Twinkle Rahul Mangaonkar & Ors. In that case, the Supreme Court had called for better accountability of law colleges, and monitoring by the BCI to ensure that parameters are maintained in law institutes. On March 15, the Court had granted counsel for the BCI to obtain instructions on,"The desirability of having better accountability from law colleges on account of their growth and the absence of requisite faculty. A more monitored process by the Bar Council of India would be required to ensure that a law college which obtain recognition once, does not rest on that and is required to maintain the parameters as set forth by the Bar Council.".1,721 law schools in India; more than twice as many private law colleges than government law colleges: Law Minister.[Read reply]