Supreme Court to Examine BCI's Authority Over Legal Education

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to examine the scope of the Bar Council of India's (BCI) powers over legal education, issuing notice on a writ petition that challenges the regulator's dual role as both standard-setter and institution-builder.

A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant questioned how the BCI, which primarily regulates the legal profession, could be treated as an authority on legal education when domain experts and legal academicians are available. The Bench observed that while the Council may frame broad guidelines such as the duration of a law course, it cannot dictate the finer details of how legal education is imparted.

The petition, filed by Girish Mittal through advocates Prashant Bhushan, Cheryl D'Souza and Pranav Sachdeva, targets the constitution of the Bar Council of India Trust for Promotion of Education (Legal & Professional) and Reforms in Law and For Improvement of Research and Social Training (PEARL FIRST), along with the law institutions established by the Trust.

Arguing before the court, Mr. Bhushan pointed to a conflict of interest arising from the continuing institutional association of the BCI and State Bar Councils with bodies operating in the field of legal education. He questioned how the Council could simultaneously exercise regulatory and inspecting functions while also establishing the India International University of Legal Education and Research (IIULER) in Goa through the BCI-PEARL Trust.

According to the submissions, 77% of the university's General Council, its supreme supervisory body, comprises members nominated by the BCI or the BCI-PEARL Trust. The petition contends that a regulator empowered to lay down standards for legal education and to inspect universities for compliance cannot act as the owner or management of a law university, as this conflicts with its primary duty to set standards and conduct inspections impartially.

Mr. Bhushan further submitted that after IIULER was set up in Goa, the same model is proposed for Andhra Pradesh. The petition also claims that the BCI's interventions in the internal governance of educational institutions extend to several other universities, including the National Law School of India University in Bengaluru, Gujarat National Law University, National Law University Delhi, and the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research University in Hyderabad.

The plea seeks to restrain the BCI from establishing, owning, managing, governing, funding or promoting any law university, whether directly or through the BCI-PEARL Trust or any entity under its aegis. It also asks for a direction to the Council and the Trust to disassociate themselves from the ownership, management, governance, funding and promotion of IIULER, Goa, and a declaration that the BCI's establishment, governance or control of the Goa and Andhra Pradesh universities, or any other university on the same model, is illegal and impermissible in law.