The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Ruling on starting law colleges

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 20, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Ruling on starting law colleges

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has held that the Bar Council of India shall not insist upon permission or no-objection certification from the State Government as a condition for processing the applications of deemed universities to establish law colleges.

The ruling was given by Justice Prabha Sridevan after a writ appeal filed by the Bar Council was referred to her pursuant to a split verdict by a Division Bench of Justice F.M. Ibrahim Kalifulla and Justice S. Tamilvanan.

The Bar Council rejected the applications from two deemed universities — Saveetha Institute and SASTRA Deemed University — seeking permission to establish a law college in Tamil Nadu. A single judge allowed the pleas and decided the matter in favour of the private institutions.

The Bar Council contended that without its permission, no degree granted by any college would be of any use to any advocate since without being enrolled by the Council, no one could practise. The deemed universities, it said, had not challenged the relevant rules.

Senior counsel for the deemed universities, however, contended that there was no need to challenge the provision, as it did not apply to them. The provisions of a State Act could not apply to a deemed university, which did not require affiliation. While Mr. Justice Kalifulla held that the permission/no-objection certification could not be insisted upon by the Bar Council, Mr. Justice Tamilvanan ruled that the Bar Council was right in insisting upon the requirement.

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