Six law graduates have filed a writ petition challenging that the Bar Council of India’s (BCI) proposed all India bar exam should not prevent them from practising in courts.
The IANS news agency reported that Urshit Oza and five other 2009 law graduates filed an application in Gujarat High Court against the Ministry of Law and Justice. [Update: Oza was a student of LA Shah Law College, further details set out below]
The petitioners’ counsel Amit Panchal argued that while Oza and the others had graduated in the 2008-09 academic year, they had only “completed specialisation in 2009-10”, according to IANS.
Panchal submitted that the petitioners should be licenced to practice without passing the bar exam because 2008-09 should be counted as the effective date of their graduation, for the purposes of taking the bar exam, rather than 2010. The article did not explain whether “specialisation” was referring to an LLM degree or other further education or qualification. [Update: see below for details; LA Shah College operates an advocacy specialisation program in the third LLB year]
The BCI passed a resolution on 10 April 2010 that amended Rules 9, 10 and 11 under section 49(1)(ah) of the 1961 Advocates Act, which governs conditions for the right to practice.
The BCI’s resolution stated: “No advocate enrolled under section 24 of the Advocates Act, 1961 shall be entitled to practice under Chapter IV of the Advocates Act, 1961, unless such advocate successfully passes the All India Bar Examination conducted by the Bar Council of India.
“It is clarified that the Bar Examination shall be mandatory for all law students graduating from academic year 2009-2010 onwards and enrolled as advocates under Section 24 of the Advocates Act, 1961.”
The Gujarat writ petition is listed for hearing today (16 June) at 2:30pm in the High Court of Gujarat, presided over by chief justice S J Mukhopadhaya and justice Akil Kureshi according to the High Court’s causelist, although Legally India has not seen a copy of the application.
IANS wrote: “Panchal said that the BCI would conduct the examination Dec 5 and this would lead to loss of six months to them due to implementation of the new rules.
“He requested the court to direct the BCI to grant them the licence to practice, while the petitioners would appear in the exams later.
“The continuation of the licence would be subject to the result of the test, Panchal said.”
In an unrelated development, the Karnataka State Bar Council contacted the BCI questioning how the state bar council would be able to police the ban on court practice without passing the exam.
“If we enrol them on the condition that they would practise only after passing the AIBE [all India bar exam], we don’t have the mechanism to check whether they have indeed refrained from practising or not. In case, they practise, we don’t know how to stop them,” Karnataka Bar Council officials said, as reported national paper DNA India yesterday (15 June).
The bar exam is scheduled to be held on 5 December 2010 and will not affect seniority or basic work conducted by law firm lawyers, according to the BCI.
**UPDATE: Oza was a student at LA Shah Law College in Ahmedabad, which is affiliated to the University of Gujarat.
The college operates a three year special LLB degree, where the third year consists of advocacy specialisation.**
Photo by comedynose
Comments
the petitioners are probably from some cheap college and not GNLU. i wish GNLU-ites filed a PIL on the foreign law firm issue along with other NLU grads....now THAT would be news!
And Kian, would you know what "specialization" (after graduation) the petitioners / their counsel is referring to?
Does this mean that batch who has passed out in May/June 2009 will also be required sit for the Bar Exam?
The very fact that they are challenging a rule (resolution) that is not yet in force further makes the case stronger for the BCI to introduce the exam. I just wish somebody else would take up the matter and stay the exam or allow people to practice till then.
Yuk! This is the worst kind of obsolete Babu English (other examples being Your Humble Obedient Servant", "Your Good Self" and "miscreant"). Moreover, your usage is grammatically incorrect. It is wrong to use "infructuous" to describe a petition that is unsustainable. Do you happen to be one of those creatures that wear coats and gowns when it's 40 degrees, hold a grudge against NLUs, throw stones at policemen, support the LTTE, and oppose the entry of foreign law firms?
btw check this post abt krishna iyer. funny shit
http://indiauncut.com/iublog/article/phul-singh-vs-state-of-haryana-and-the-state-of-indian-english/
I didn't get your point regarding other students. If you're concerned about their voice, for all one can say; they probably are quiet because they support it. But I think it'd be also safe to say people, generally, don't like exams and all the noise can be best referred to as cribbing.
@14: The condemnation of this exam, till now, has mostly been coming from the "top" law schools with their brilliant students which is why I mentioned top in double quotes.
It seems to me all batches passed out before were perfect and fit for profession.This is an outright insult of the younger generation.
While he roots of the evil lies elsewhere - malpractice,corruption.It is a simple eyewash to cover the underlying current. Eg. Bhopal Gas Tragedy
NLU grads are not complaining abt the exam coz they will fear they will flunk but for other reasons. don't try to take cheap shots at NLUs bcoz u are insecure.
and FYI the petitioners are NOT from GNLU but an unknown law college where u can get an LLB in only 2 yrs.
[The college is LA Shah Law College - see the update in the main body of the article above. -Ed]
It is infact a law college with not even a single full-time lecturer; forget a professor (and an Incharge Principal) (Refer http://www.sirlashah.org/faculty.html ). Considering this, no wonder that the grads of this unheard college so much apprehensive about clearing the bar exam.
the word "cheap" does not refer to fees and campus architecture but faculty and student quality. almost all non-NLU colleges can be described as cheap colleges in this sense (among the rare exceptions are JGLS and the IIT kharagpur law school). DU and some other places once had good teachers but they are slowly moving to the NLUs. DU at least has a brand value but places like the petitioner's college can truly be called cheap.
i am not being arrogant but stating a sad fact. i would want foreign univs to open their campuses and offer good-quality education to thousands of students. the NLUs will shut shop in 2 months if that happens. unfortunately, the BCI is opposing foreign univs, just like it is opposing foreign law firms. the BCI are power-hungry oligarchs and monopolists who are doing much worse damage to the country's interests than the naxals. they are the ones to blame for the sad state of legal education and they are the ones you should be directing your angst towards.
Sir L.A. Shah Law college has gifted many Judges to the Nation by being Supreme Court Judges and also Chief Justice.
The exceeding majority of the Judges at Gujarat High Court is a product of Sir L.A. Shah Law College on any given day!
This stands true even for majority of Senior Counsels (under whom the NLU family i.e. GNLU students undergo internship!!! and flaunt their internship certificates).
SIR L.A. SHAH LAW COLLEGE STUDENTS HAVE COMPETED AND DEFEATED NLU STUDENTS (GNLU SPECIFICALLY) AT EVERY POSSIBLE FORUM. The only misfortune is that Sir L.A. Shah Law college is content and mature to not to boast of its regular achievements and GNLU highlights only their victories and would be ashamed of even murmuring in campus about their defeat. So stop "creating" and "living" in a "dream world" where GNLU students are considered superior to Sir L.A. Law College students.
I didnt want to belittle GNLU and its students. But the slew of immature comments based on ignorance of real facts forced me to post this.
So grow guys! u dont become great by a mere association to a NLU or traditional college, its u who have to make ur own mark!
There is no need to derive a sadistic pleasure by ridiculing the traditional colleges, be it law or other streams! because probably your father and mother earned their degrees from traditional law universities/colleges and so if u claim that all traditional college students are "incapable", "inferior" or "incompetent", then probably that stands true even for parents of NLU students! So moral is, its better we dont generalize and associate good qualities only with NLUs.
All the Laws, The Constitution of India, the Supreme Court Judgments and jurisprudence, are all product of traditional Law colleges and not NLUs(ya i know the 1st one came up only in 1988!!! too bad! )
No matter what NLU students boast of, ultimately they will be drawing their salaries from Advocates (Senior Counsels are NLU favorite)who are products of traditional law colleges, law firms (majority) being founded by product of traditional law colleges or even companies being run by business class who sometimes are not even graduates.
So.... be great yourself...not by being associated to an institution!
First of all, Sir. L.A. Shah Law College has not defeated GNLU and as a matter of fact, any other NLU in any competition so far. I am sure of that. So do not post anything without backing it up with some data.
Second, GNLU doesn't boast about its achievements, it just has a better website than Sir L.A. Shah Law College. GNLU is like any other college. No college is stupid enough to put up their losses on their website. Its called common sense. First win something and then try to be modest.
Third, most of the Supreme Court Judges will surely be from traditional law colleges. Even high Court judges. Why ? Because becoming one requires experience of many years. Sir L.A. Shah Law College has produced many judges, I agree. They are really good. FYI, 18 GNLLU students took the JMFC exam this time, all of them passed it comfortably. wait for a decade or so and then check all the judge's background again.
I had done a survey with an organisation on the condition of three year law colleges in Ahmedabad. Sir L.A. Shah Law College did not even have the requisite faculty. None of the students attended college except for exams.
Just because a few NLU students ridicule traditional law colleges, doesn't mean that everyone in the NLU thinks so. Stop such, for want of a better word, stupid comments.
@Everyone-I have nothing against Sir L.A. Shah Law College. Its just that some people need to be made aware of the facts sometimes.
@25- Mark my words, Sir L.A. Shah Law College will not win any competition GNLU participates in. Its a challenge.
But now the most important fact behind this victory. The team which represented Sir L.A. Shah Law College comprised of 3 students, out of which 2 students were ex-GNLUites, pursuing LL.M. at Sir L.A. Shah Law College ['just so as to obtain an along side degree].. So Mr./Ms. 25, whosoever you are, first get your facts correct. Just imagine, Sir L.A. Shah Law College had to constitute its team by its LL.M. students, who were passouts from another NLU. (Why? Aren't your LL.B. students capable enough to even stand in front of the undergraduate LL.B. students from NLUs?)
Res ipsa loquitor. So, Mr./ Ms. 25, I guess you would have heard this Latin Maxim somewhere during your law studies at L.A. Shah or it sounds alien?
I know this facts for sure since I have graduated from Sir LA Shah and am a faculty in one of the prominent law college.
2 of my juniors JIGAR GHADVI and VANDAN BAXI competed with and defeated GNLU in a competition. URSHIT OZA(also my junior), as this report itself gives link to the newspaper report, was judged as BEST SPEAKER in National Moot Court Competition. I hope now GNLU does not deny participating in such competitions. And these are just illustrative names...the list goes on!
So #27 & 28, you can confirm these names with the L A SHAH LAW college and be satisfied that its not a "prophecy" that LA Shah students "will" never win against GNLU. It is a "Fact" that L A Shah Law college students "HAVE defeated GNLU students" Its a "PAST TENSE" now.
@ # 28, so rub off that attitude that L A Shah did win, but it was because of GNLU students. L A Shah Students have made it in the past even without GNLU students.
Look I am a pass out of GNLU and pursuing my LLM from Sir L. A. Shah Law College. It is not about GNLU v. L.A. Shah.. Please do not make it a battlefield between these two institutions.
Let me tell you that both the institutions are very much different. The former is a NLU and the latter is the College of Gujarat University. The Ideology or Concept behind both of them are totally different. No one can compare GNLU or L.A. Shah and no one can challenge or limit the Ideology of any Institute. It is all about the Bar Examination and I dont know that who made this silly comparison between GNLU and L.A. Shah and why. Nobody said that L.A. Shah is below GNLU or any other institutes, than why are you guys feeling that there is a sense of superiority among GNLU or NLUlites. @25 It did provoked and hurt the feelings of NLUlites and that is why arrows from GNLU and L.A. Shah are mounting each other.
I request you all to stop this ASAP.
Man, it takes so little to equate oneself to the best in the world just because there is no better in your country that is full of corruption and protectionism.
Look this does not mean that any college is below than the NLU's. Suppose if I ask you Law School in Bangalore, directly it will hit in your mind that it is NLS, Bangalore and not any other college of the same city. That is why GNLU came into the frame.
@#25 Please do not pass such remarks that National Law Schools do not give birth to Judges. Please also do not remark that you defeated or lost against GNLU. GNLU is in itself is different than Sir L.A. Shah Law College, or for that matter any other NLS is different from any other College in India. Please do not bring this type of 'racism' in competence. Please do not mention that you win and do not boast and GNLU do.
I think, Law is a subject by which one gets mature enough to look at the things himself. What I am finding here is a sense of "IMMATURITY". Please avoid this race.
I hope you all got it and will not again comment anything on either GNLU (NLSchools)or Sir L.A. Shah College of Law (any other college under any University).
If BCI wants to put a regulation to start an exam then it must have informed the students while they were entering into the course so that they must have been aware as to what they shall have to inorder to become an advocate but not at the time when they are completing the degree.
I have slogged through my course and being a son of a poor farmer I am unable to stand any further for 6 months and an additional cost of another exam.
I want to know the below :-
1) If candidates Have passed LLB Exam in 1996 0r 1997 0r 1998 and wants to enrol now for Permanent membership at BCI , is He/She is exempted from Qualifying Exam conducted by BCI and can we get direct permanent membership for practising as advocate.
Would be thankful for your help in this regard.
S.Radha