SC asks BCI how many law colleges can a state have in view of pvt colleges boom

The Supreme Court has asked the Bar Council of India, regulator of legal education and profession, to spell out how many law colleges can be set up district-wise in a state.

A three-judge bench presided over by Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Mohan M Shantanagoudar also sought to know the criteria for granting permission to establish law colleges in a state.

"The BCI is to furnish the data as to how many law colleges can be permitted to operate in a particular state (district-wise) and what is the criteria. The BCI must also file data on the law colleges approved by it in various states place-wise," the bench ordered.

The court sought a detailed affidavit from the regulator by the second week of March after being told that law colleges had mushroomed in various states because of permission granted to a number of private law colleges.

The top court was hearing a plea filed by Tamil Nadu government, which sought to know whether there was any requirement for private law colleges in the state.

Apprehending mushrooming of law colleges, the state government had passed a law, the Tamil Nadu Establishment of Private Law Colleges (Prohibition) Act, 2014, which was challenged by Advocates Forum for Social Justice.