19 out of 32 law colleges took accreditation: Bar Council to HC

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court’s division bench of CJ Alok Aradhe and Justice J Sreenivas Rao on Monday heard the PIL filed by advocate A Bhaskar Reddy from Gachibowli, seeking directions to the Bar Council of India (BCI) to hold admissions to law courses in Telangana for the AY 2023-24.

It seeks direction to the State government, BCI and the convener, TS LAWCET, to strictly adhere to the academic calendar by completing the counselling and admissions to LLB, LL M and other law courses before July each year beginning with AY 2024-25, as per the UGC norms.

L Ravichander, senior counsel representing the BCI, informed the bench that only 19 of the 32 colleges, spread across the State imparting law courses, have taken the BCI accreditation to impart law courses to; other colleges have been declared as defaulters.

The NALSAR University of Law and the Kakatiya University Law College are in the list of defaulters as they have not approached the BCI seeking a formal, independent verification that a programme or institution meets quality standards and is competent to offer such courses.

CJ Aradhe, after hearing the contentions, observed that NALSAR University of Law is a coveted college, imparting law; it should not be dragged into this controversy and recused from adjudicating the PIL. He directed the HC Registry to post the PIL before the division bench comprising Justices Sujoy Paul and N Rajeshwar Rao for further hearing. Hearing in the case was adjourned.