PIL in Supreme Court seeks Legal Education Commission to review curriculum, duration of law courses

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed before the Supreme Court has sought directions for establishment of a Legal Education Commission for reviewing the curriculum and duration of Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and Master of Laws (LLM) courses. .The petition has been filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader. He has stated that while the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 promotes four-year graduation programs across all professional and academic courses, the Bar Council of India (BCI) has not yet taken steps to review the LLB and LLM courses.He has argued that the extended duration of the five-year course appears to be structured primarily for monetary gain."The unreasonable 5 years B. Law Course has been set under the pressure of private college management so as to make the most amount of money they could from the course. The Course fee of Private Law Colleges and even the National Law Universities is exorbitant and lower as well as middle class students find it very difficult to pursue Law with such exorbitant fees structure and that too for 05 years. Students not only pay too much but also lose too much of their precious time due to such a lengthy course," Upadhyay has contended in the petition..The plea highlights that legal luminaries like Ram Jethmalani and Fali Nariman succeeded without being restricted by rigid systems. "If late Sh. Ram Jethmalani can become a legend of the bar by starting his law career in just 17 years, then why should the youth waste 01 additional years of their life in the 05 years integrated course and not start their career from a younger age of 20-21 years? It’s not that starting early is a sine qua non for success but it is certainly helpful for bright students. Ex-Law minister, late Sh. Jethmalani, completed his Law at the age of 17 years and started Law firm at the age of 18. Was there any 5 years Law Course to bar the progress and obscure the vision? There was none. The eminent jurist and former Attorney general late Sh. Fali Nariman completed 03 years law after 12th at the age of 21 years. There are numerous examples of prodigies not being encumbered by a rigid system which focuses more on being the jack of all rather than being the master of one," it states.Upadhyay has called it unfortunate that the Central government has not yet established a Legal Education Commission for the law courses like the Medical Education Commission nor has the Bar Council of India formed any expert committee to review the subjects and duration of legal courses, in line with the New Education Policy 2020..Therefore, he has urged the Court to direct the Centre to establish a Legal Education Commission or an expert committee comprising eminent educationists, jurists, retired judges, advocates, and professors to review the syllabus, curriculum and duration of the LLB and LLM courses, ensuring they are aligned with current needs.