Mushrooming law colleges raise concern over quality of advocates
NEW DELHI: It could be easier to get permission to start a law college in India than to get a law degree.
A list of law colleges across the country prepared by the Bar Council of India shows that UP has the largest number of 350 law colleges, and one of its little known universities, Shri Chatrapati Shahuji Maharaj University in Kanpur, has 88 colleges affiliated to it awarding law degrees.
Of these 88 colleges, 44 were given permission in just two years between 2014 and 2016 to impart legal education.
Another popular varsity from UP, the Chaudhary Charan Singh (CCS) University in Meerut, has no less than 101 law colleges offering LL.B courses. Even CCS University has affiliated a record 54 colleges in just four years between 2012 and 2016 to impart degree-level courses.
The mushrooming of large number of law colleges in UP — presumably due to a huge interest in the legal profession — are indicative of the popularity of the legal degrees which attract students from across the country.
This has also raised concerns in the legal and judicial fraternity about the quality of advocates such institutions are churning out in hundreds.
"It's a matter of concern that some of the universities have given too many affiliations to start law colleges. We are looking into some cases in UP and Andhra Pradesh," Bar Council of India chairman Manan Kumar Mishra told TOI.
However, he said the responsibility largely lies with state governments which grant no objection certificates after verifying if such colleges have adequate infrastructure and facilities to start degree-level courses.
Elite or well known unioversities like Allahabad University, the Banaras Hindu University, Aligarh Muslim University have just one or two colleges imparting legal education.
Of the 1,500-odd law colleges in India as of May 2016, Madhya Pradesh is second with at least 143 listed law colleges, followed by Maharashtra (139), Karnataka (115) and Rajasthan (110).
According to the list, the Rajasthan University in Jaipur has 41 law colleges affiliated to it, a majority of them came up after 2003. There are multiple varsities in the state which have given affiliations to dozens of law colleges to start LL.B degree courses.
Madhya Pradesh has a similar story. The Barkatullah University in Bhopal has 29 law colleges affiliated to it, the Awadhesh Pratap Singh University in Rewa has 21 and Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya in Indore has 24 listed against it but at least five of its affiliated colleges are under show cause notices debarring admissions.
A list of law colleges across the country prepared by the Bar Council of India shows that UP has the largest number of 350 law colleges, and one of its little known universities, Shri Chatrapati Shahuji Maharaj University in Kanpur, has 88 colleges affiliated to it awarding law degrees.
Of these 88 colleges, 44 were given permission in just two years between 2014 and 2016 to impart legal education.
Another popular varsity from UP, the Chaudhary Charan Singh (CCS) University in Meerut, has no less than 101 law colleges offering LL.B courses. Even CCS University has affiliated a record 54 colleges in just four years between 2012 and 2016 to impart degree-level courses.
The mushrooming of large number of law colleges in UP — presumably due to a huge interest in the legal profession — are indicative of the popularity of the legal degrees which attract students from across the country.
This has also raised concerns in the legal and judicial fraternity about the quality of advocates such institutions are churning out in hundreds.
"It's a matter of concern that some of the universities have given too many affiliations to start law colleges. We are looking into some cases in UP and Andhra Pradesh," Bar Council of India chairman Manan Kumar Mishra told TOI.
However, he said the responsibility largely lies with state governments which grant no objection certificates after verifying if such colleges have adequate infrastructure and facilities to start degree-level courses.
Elite or well known unioversities like Allahabad University, the Banaras Hindu University, Aligarh Muslim University have just one or two colleges imparting legal education.
Of the 1,500-odd law colleges in India as of May 2016, Madhya Pradesh is second with at least 143 listed law colleges, followed by Maharashtra (139), Karnataka (115) and Rajasthan (110).
According to the list, the Rajasthan University in Jaipur has 41 law colleges affiliated to it, a majority of them came up after 2003. There are multiple varsities in the state which have given affiliations to dozens of law colleges to start LL.B degree courses.
Madhya Pradesh has a similar story. The Barkatullah University in Bhopal has 29 law colleges affiliated to it, the Awadhesh Pratap Singh University in Rewa has 21 and Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya in Indore has 24 listed against it but at least five of its affiliated colleges are under show cause notices debarring admissions.
