The Delhi High Court ordered the Bar Council of India (BCI) to form special expert teams to perform unexpected visits to law institutions across the nation on Friday after observing that the state of legal education, particularly its facilities, is nothing short of frightening. According to Justice Chandra Dhari Singh, BCI must post these inspection results on its website within a month and close any colleges that don't have the bare minimum of infrastructure requirements.
The court condemned the commercialization of education and stated that these measures should be implemented to "heal the illnesses that legal education is suffering from" and that it was remarkable that the stakeholders in legal education could accept such a condition. The court's ruling was made in response to a private law school's requests to increase enrollment in its BA LLB 5-year integrated program.
Concerning factors include the infrastructure's state and the state of legal education. There are law schools that might not have enough faculty, classrooms, libraries, etc., the court said.
Within one month following the inspection, the college that teaches law must post the inspection records online. The BCI must act swiftly to shut down any colleges that are found to be operating without the bare minimum of infrastructure facilities after such an inspection.
The court reasoned that the relevant BCI Rules themselves require that any institution providing legal education must adhere to the basic levels of infrastructure. The court further stated that it is crucial that colleges enhance their current infrastructure before adding more students.
The court ruled that no lessons or other educational activities can take place in the petitioner college's basement in the current instance.
The court emphasized that adequate campus infrastructure, such as classrooms, libraries, and laboratories, as well as a teaching staff that is qualified and well-equipped, are necessary to ensure that proper educational standards are met. The court also stressed the importance of maintaining a healthy student-teacher ratio. Another scourge plaguing the Indian education system is the commercialization of the field. When more students are enrolled in each new batch of students without upgrading the current infrastructure, it is one example of profiteering in this honorable profession, the report concluded.
