BCI grants HNLU provisional approval for 2026-27, exempts late fee

The Bar Council of India (BCI) has granted Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU), Nava Raipur provisional approval for its five-year BA.LL.B. (Hons) course for the 2026-27 academic session.

On Monday, HNLU, after being named among six National Law Universities (NLUs) without current BCI approval, wrote to Bar & Bench attributing the gap to a technical glitch and a disputed late fee on the BCI portal.

In its letter to HNLU dated August 4, the BCI said that it was granting the provisional extension "as a special case and without treating the same as a precedent." It cited HNLU's status as a government institution and exempted the University from payment of a late fee.

BCI has clarified in the letter that this exemption does not excuse HNLU from completing its extension application in full on the BCI portal, including uploading all required documents, a compliance affidavit and course, session and intake-wise particulars.

Mere creation of a portal entry or partial updates will not count as completion, the letter said, adding that the provisional extension remains subject to scrutiny, inspection and further orders that could be reviewed, modified or withdrawn if the portal application is not completed within the time granted.

The BCI has also said that 2027-28 session onwards, no extension will be granted unless a complete application - with all documents, fees and compliance material - is filed within the prescribed time.

The approval is also conditional on HNLU submitting bank statements confirming faculty salary payments since April 2024, filed every 3 months, along with a notarised compliance affidavit within 6 months covering faculty, library and infrastructure requirements.