Law admissions stuck, but Mumbai University starts lectures to make up for delay

MUMBAI: As uncertainty rises over when law colleges will begin classes, the University of Mumbai has asked students who have written the law common entrance test

MUMBAI: As uncertainty rises over when law colleges will begin classes, the University of Mumbai has asked students who have written the law common entrance test to attend lectures at the University National Law School (UNLS) to make up for the delay.

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The admissions to law courses this year were first delayed by the common entrance test (CET), which the government conducted for the first time but were delayed after petitions questioning the legality of the examination were filed in courts. The admissions were then further deferred after the Bar Council of India found 64 law colleges in the state didn’t meet its norms. On Saturday, Maharashtra’s CET Cell announced the admission schedule, but the Bar Council of India has not yet released a complete list of approved institutes.

Sources said the free-of-cost lectures will begin from September 16 at MU’s Fort campus and were an attempt to make up for the loss of teaching days. They will serve as a primer for the first-year curriculum. UNLS will also conduct counselling sessions for aspirants, who have been anxiously waiting for the admission process to begin.

“Admissions to law courses may well go on till October and there will be first semester examinations, immediately afterwards. The teachers will not be able to complete the curriculum and students won’t be able to prepare for the exam. We have decided to start teaching students who have appeared for the law CET this year,” said Ashok Yende, director in-charge, UNLS.

Students who register for the programme, in collaboration with the NGO Citizen Forum for Change, will also be provided counselling for the admission process.

“We will guide them about what courses to choose, where to go and what to study?” Yende said.

Fifteen lawyers and law teachers will voluntarily teach aspirants during the programme, sources told HT. Yende said in just a few days of the announcement, the programme has already received good response, with law aspirants from various states wanting to join.

“We thought they will organise these lectures for 50 or 100 students, but it seems we may not be able to accommodate all respondents. Aspirants from outside the city are ready to come and live here during the period of course,” he said. As of Friday, 51 aspirants have registered for the course and many more have inquired about it.