Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will examine whether Bar Council of India (BCI) has the power to regulate law colleges and universities while emphasising that its statutory role as a regulator comes into existence only after a licence is provided.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana sought to know how the BCI can be considered an expert body to regulate legal education, as law scholars and academics were better suited to deal with academic matters.
“How can BCI regulate law colleges? That’s the real question. Their statutory role comes into existence only after one gets licence. So the issue is whether law schools can be regulated? We’d like to examine whether BCI has the power to control and regulate university/law college.
“How is the BCI an expert body to regulate legal education? What do they know about legal education? There are eminent law scholars, academicians… you can lay down general guidelines… curriculum should be four or five years…but you can’t control,” the CJI remarked orally.
The top court was hearing petitions questioning the functioning of BCI-PEARL FIRST Trust and the establishment of law colleges by the trust.
The bench issued notice on the petitions and sought the response of the Bar Council of India within two weeks.
