In response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Dr. Sharmila Ghuge, an associate professor at Jitendra Chauhan College of Law, the Bombay High Court (HC) has intervened to address concerns about the admission process for LLB and BLS courses.
The PIL highlighted a flaw in the educational system, where the University Grants Commission (UGC) and Bar Council of India had set rules stating that the law syllabus should be completed 45 days prior to exams, rather than the required 90 days of teaching.
Dr. Ghuge raised these concerns in a written representation to the state chief secretary and the commissioner of the Common Entrance Tests (CET) Cell. Unfortunately, her efforts to seek a response from the relevant authorities went unanswered. After waiting for a month, she decided to file a PIL with the Bombay High Court.
The division bench of the HC, consisting of Justice Sandeep Marne and Acting Chief Justice S V Gangapurwala, took up the case and issued an order in the first week of May. The court acknowledged the impracticality of changing the schedule for CET admissions but emphasised the need for prompt processing of admissions. Furthermore, the court said that all university authorities and councils should adhere to the required 90-day teaching period, as specified by the UGC and Bar Council of India.
The delays in the admissions process for law courses have been an ongoing issue since the introduction of CET in 2016, making it challenging to meet the criteria set by the UGC. Despite faculty members raising the issue with the university, their concerns went unaddressed, leading to the intervention of the Bombay High Court through the PIL filed by Dr. Ghuge.
Dr. Ghuge's letter to the UGC also received a response from the undersecretary, B. Ravi Narayanan, who acknowledged the concerns and requested appropriate action from the Directorate of Higher Education.
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