Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has upheld the validity of the Bar Council of India’s (BCI) inspection notice to Smt. Nathibai Damodar Thackersey (SNDT) Women’s University Law School, ruling that the BCI’s authority to inspect law colleges is legally sound and does not violate constitutional provisions.
A division bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice MS Karnik held that the notice was neither arbitrary nor illegal. The Court said that the Legal Education Rules, 2008, under which the BCI is empowered to inspect law colleges does not violate Article 14 and Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution.
The court dismissed the law school’s contention that the BCI’s inspection powers were limited to universities and did not extend to affiliated colleges.
The petition, filed in 2019, challenged the BCI’s notices issued in August and September 2018, which required an inspection of the petitioner’s institution. The law school argued that under the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, and the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016, universities and colleges are distinct entities, and the authority to inspect colleges lies solely with the university. It claimed that the BCI’s rules exceeded its statutory powers and unlawfully expanded its regulatory scope.
The BCI, represented by Advocate Shekhar Jagtap, defended its statutory duty to ensure that law colleges maintain educational standards. Senior Advocate Milind Sathe, appointed as amicus curiae (friend of the court), supported the BCI’s stance, emphasising that the council has a crucial role in legal education and its power to inspect universities extends to affiliated colleges conducting law courses.
Rejecting the petitioner’s arguments, the court ruled that the BCI’s rule-making authority includes inspection of law colleges to uphold educational standards.
The court also vacated an ad-interim order from 2018 that had allowed the law school’s students to enroll as advocates despite the inspection dispute. The BCI is now free to conduct a fresh inspection and take further action as per law.
