4 NLUs listed with expired BCI approval ahead of July 31 deadline

The Bar Council of India (BCI) has given law colleges a final opportunity till July 31 to complete pending applications for renewal or extension of course approval.

The July 13 circular granting the opportunity is meant for Centres of Legal Education (CLEs) that have either not filed a renewal application or have left it incomplete. It covers only existing courses, sections and sanctioned intake, not new colleges or courses.

The BCI has explicitly said that merely registering on the portal, filing an application or paying the fees does not by itself amount to approval. Institutions that miss the deadline risk being unable to admit students without valid approval.

The lapse in Dr Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University's (RMLNLU) BCI approval prompted a wider check of BCI's published list of approved CLEs. As per the list, several other National Law Universities (NLUs) were without renewed approvals for one or more courses.

Emails were sent to the registrars of these NLUs on June 3, seeking confirmation of their current BCI approval status. The responses - and in some cases the lack of one - prompted a Right to Information (RTI) application to the BCI on June 8, seeking records on the approval status of these NLUs.

BCI did not respond to the RTI application within the 30-day window, leading to a first appeal filed on July 9. On July 13, the circular granting CLEs the final opportunity was issued.

3 of 10 NLUs responded to emails.

Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University (DSNLU), Visakhapatnam, shared a BCI communication granting provisional approval for academic year 2026-27 for its courses.

National Law Institute University (NLIU), Bhopal Registrar Vivek Bakshi claimed that the University is duly recognised by BCI and that renewal documents and the registration fee were submitted online on December 23, 2024. Notably, BCI has maintained that paying fees and submitting an application does not amount to approval or the extension of it.

When asked directly whether NLIU holds current approval and if a copy was available, the University did not respond.

At National Law University Odisha (NLUO), Cuttack, Registrar and Professor of Law Rangin Pallav Tripathy said that the University had necessary BCI approval upto the next academic year. However, the University was "not comfortable" sharing relevant documents.

"However, we are not comfortable sharing approval documents as it constitutes correspondence between the regulatory body (BCI) and the University and we are concerned that it is not appropriate to share such correspondence with the media," Prof Tripathy told Bar & Bench.

National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru and National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS), Kochi did not respond to emails.

Of the NLUs that were without current session approval in June, several, including National University of Study and Research in Law (NUSRL), Ranchi; National Law University and Judicial Academy (NLUJA), Assam; Maharashtra National Law University (MNLU), Nagpur; MNLU, Mumbai; and Himachal Pradesh National Law University (HPNLU) now show current approval on the BCI's list. None of these universities had responded to Bar & Bench's emails.

As on July 18, the following gaps persist:

• NLIU, Bhopal - B.A.LL.B. (Hons) approved only up to 2020-21

• NLSIU, Bengaluru - all courses approved only up to 2023-24

• NLUO, Cuttack - all courses approved only up to 2024-25

• NUALS, Kochi - BA.LL.B. (Hons) approved only up to 2023-24;