Introduction:

On September 24th, 2024, The Bar Council of India (BCI) mandated strict compliance with its directives related to State Bar Council (SBC) enrolment candidate declarations and systematic implementations in Centres of Legal Education (CLEs), through a notification.

This notification was addressed to Centres of Legal Education (CLE) Issuing Law Degrees, Registrars, Vice-Chancellors, Deans, HODs and faculties of law & emphasised on the exhaustive verification of law students and installing systematic implementations to monitor student conduct and attendance. This included various directives related to declarations, background checks, CCTVs, biometric installations etc.

The purpose of these mandates is to enforce measures in respect to law students and CLEs, that will ensure the maintenance of the high ethical standards and integrity of the legal profession.

,p>This notification has mandates that requires certain declarations from students in relation to simultaneous degree rules, employment status, criminal background disclosure, and attendance norms.

Persuasion of Simultaneous Degrees:

The notification re-emphasised the Rule 6 of the Rules for legal education according to which the simultaneous persuasion of any other degree programs along with an LL.B. degree is prohibited. The only exemption to this rule is that persuasion of distance learning programs or short-term, part time certification courses in specific areas such as computer-learning and language. A declaration regarding the same is also required and any violation of this rule will lead to the non-issuance of the degree and final marksheet by the CLE.

Partaking in Simultaneous Employment:

Another rule highlighted in the notification was the Rule 12 of the Rules for legal education according to which during the course of their LL.B. degree programs students are not allowed to partake in any vocation, service or job until or unless they have obtained explicit permission in the form of valid No Objection Certificate (NOC) from their employer. This notification also included the provision of the student’s proof of compliance to the attendance norms under the aforementioned rule. The BCI also stated that all such employments need to be reported to them through email and failure to do so will result in withholding of the student’s degree and final marksheet, prohibition in enrolment to any SBC, and disciplinary action.

Criminal Background:

The notification also had mandatory declaration directives related to the criminal record of law students. It requires all the students to declare any criminal cases, ongoing FIRs, convictions or acquittals before the issuance of their degrees and final marksheets.  Failure to do so will lead to strict disciplinary actions such as withholding of the degree and the marksheet. This directive aims to encourage maintenance of clean criminal records by Law students in order to uphold the high ethical standards of the legal profession.

There is also an undertaking, given in the notification, that confirms student’s compliance to the aforementioned mandates which the students have to fill and submit before the issuance of their final marksheets and degrees.

The notification also had important directives for implementation by the CLEs.

Installation of Biometric Attendance Systems:

The BCI through this notification also directed the CLEs to install biometric attendance systems throughout their campuses in order to facilitate the accurate monitoring of attendance of the students. This will in turn lead to better compliance with the attendance norms as this will leave no scope for deception in the form of adjustment of attendance by the CLEs.

Installation of CCTV Surveillance System:

The BCI also instructed CLEs to set up CCTV surveillance systems in key areas of their institutions including classrooms. This directive was given with an aim of facilitating better monitoring of students in regards to their conduct and attendance. Also, the recorded footage of these CCTVs is to be preserved for the period of a year in order to support any probable future verifications and investigations.

Verification of Criminal Background:

The BCI has also stated that CLEs are obligated to conduct criminal background checks of their students, prior to issuing degrees and final marksheets. If CLEs find any criminal record of a student then it must be reported to the BCI. After reporting the institution should await BCI’s decision before issuing the degree and final marksheet.

The notification also has penalties related to non-compliance with these directives.

Institutional non-compliance penalties:

The notification mentioned that if the CLEs fail to comply with the aforementioned mandates they will have to face strict disciplinary actions which may even escalate to disapproval of affiliation or derecognition of the institution by the BCI.

Penalties for the student non-compliance:

In the case of law students who fail to comply with the disclosure mandates of the BCI they will have to face severe academic and legal penalties including the non-issuance of their degrees and marksheets leading to their prohibition from SBC enrolment.

Conclusion:

Through its recent notification regarding mandates for students and CLEs the Bar Council of India has made its stance clear that it will not tolerate any deviation in terms of compliance with the Rules of Legal Education and any deviation will be met with serious legal and academic penalties. This will ensure that these institutions produce legal professionals that are at par with the high standards that uphold the integrity of the legal profession and any defaulters will not be permitted to be a part of the prestigious legal fraternity. Thus, ultimately improving the quality of legal education and professionals in the country.

Reference:

1 Bar Council of India website, BCI:D:5186/2024 (LE Circular No.13/2024)

Author-

Puranjay Saxena (Legal Intern)