The Bar Council of India (BCI) has issued an order to all Vice-Chancellors and departments of higher education across the country to join forces to ensure that the quality and excellence of the legal education system is maintained. The BCI Secretary Srimanto Sen, in yet another circular, revealed that the BCI's general council has passed a resolution in June 2015, which suggests the state governments and universities not to issue any new No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for at least three years to the law institutes and affiliations.
Despite this and some of the subsequent circulars, more than 300 NOCs were issued by state governments, and affiliations were granted by universities, lamented in the circular date April 15.
The circular put a strong emphasis on the urgent issue of enforcement of the regulation that would prevent the uncontrolled mushrooming of the law colleges across the country.
It provided "suggested criteria" for granting NOC, focusing on such issues as profitability of the proposed institution and its conformity to the existing regulatory requirements. Besides it highlighted the fact that reining in the multiplication of the substandard law colleges is not only the responsibility of the authorities.
