The Supreme Court was hearing a petition from the Bar Council of India (BCI) contesting a Gujarat High Court decision that permitted those with other occupations, full-time or part-time, to join as advocates without having to leave them.
The system may be improved at the entry level, according to a bench led by Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M.M. Sundresh, and it is the BCI's obligation to organize proper tests. It emphasized the importance of stricter monitoring on law schools and more rigorous standards at the admission level.
Counsel, who appeared as an amicus curiae in the case, recommended devising a system in which persons who have previously worked are not immediately registered and given a certificate, but rather are placed on a list that qualifies them to take the test, with enrolment dependent on the results.
Bar Council of India (BCI) contested a Gujarat High Court decision that permitted those with other occupations, to join as advocates without having to leave them. | Wikimedia Common
Counsel went on to say that the individual could be allowed to join the Bar after passing a written exam and a difficult viva.
The court reasoned that allowing enrolling when a person is still employed might not be appropriate. It further said that when a professional enrolled with the Bar leaves the legal profession, their enrollment certificate is not surrendered.
S.N. Bhat, a senior attorney, represented the BCI in front of the court.
The Supreme Court informed the BCI's lawyers that their exam must evaluate knowledge, and that there are plenty of cases where individuals acquire legal degrees without ever attending a class, citing examples of law classrooms being held in cowsheds. It also emphasized the importance of establishing more stringent admission requirements for the legal profession.
The bench remarked: "The quality has been entirely diluted as a result of this… A person who does not attend school receives a legal degree."
The bench instructed the BCI counsel to limit access in order to evaluate quality, as quality cannot be assured by taking a large number of people. The bench set a date for a follow-up hearing in the case on February 22 after a thorough hearing.
(IANS/PR)
(Keywords: Decreasing quality of legal education, S.N. Bhat, Bar Council of India (BCI), Gujarat High Court, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M.M. Sundresh)