Himachal Pradesh High Court held that LLB admission without prior graduation violates Legal Education Rules, 2008. Bar Council’s refusal to enrol Inderpal Singh as advocate upheld.
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that a person cannot be admitted to a three-year LLB course unless they have completed their graduation.
The Court said that such admission goes against the Legal Education Rules, 2008. As a result, the student in question, Inderpal Singh, is not eligible to be enrolled as an advocate.
This decision was given by a Division Bench of Justice G.S. Sandhawalia and Justice Ranjan Sharma, who dismissed the Letters Patent Appeal (LPA) filed by Inderpal Singh. The Court made it clear that since he had not completed his graduation before starting the law course, his admission was not valid.
The Court said,
“Once for want of Graduation, the admission of the appellant-writ petitioner to the LLB course was bad (being ineligible), therefore, neither any locus nor any right can be said to have accrued to the appellant… to seek enrolment as an advocate.”
In this case, Inderpal Singh had appeared for his final year Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) exams in 2014. However, he failed to clear one subject. Despite not passing, he took admission in a three-year LLB course in June 2014 at Mata Bali Sundri College of Legal Studies in Nahan.
Later, in March 2015, he cleared the failed paper, and his B.A. degree was officially issued in July 2015—more than a year after starting the LLB course.
Inderpal completed his law degree in November 2017 and applied for enrolment with the Bar Council of Himachal Pradesh.
But his request was rejected, as he was not eligible. He then filed a writ petition challenging the Bar Council’s decision.
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However, a Single Judge dismissed the petition. This led to the current appeal (LPA No. 295 of 2024), which has now also been dismissed.
The High Court upheld both the Bar Council’s decision and the earlier judgment of the Single Judge. The judges pointed out that Inderpal had knowingly joined the law course even though he had not completed his graduation.
They also noted that he had given an undertaking to the college, clearly stating that he had a backlog in one subject and that his admission could be cancelled if he failed to pass it.
The Court remarked,
“Diluting or easing out prescribed mandates relating to eligibility for admission to a course shall lead to educational chaos… except where expressly permitted under the Statute or Rules.”
The Court said there were no special circumstances or any rule that could allow such admission, and therefore supported the Bar Council’s decision to reject enrolment. It confirmed that the law was correctly applied and that the college and Bar Council had acted within their legal rights.
The case was decided on July 24, 2025.
Senior Advocate Mr. Ajay Sharma, along with Mr. Atharv Sharma, represented Inderpal Singh. Mr. Nitin Thakur appeared for Himachal Pradesh University, while Mr. Arsh Chauhan represented the Bar Council and the College.
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Mr. Sunil Mohan Goel, Senior Advocate, along with Mr. Raman Jumalta, appeared for Respondent No. 4.
This judgment is an important reminder for students and law colleges alike to strictly follow eligibility rules laid down by the Bar Council of India. Taking admission without meeting the necessary requirements can have serious consequences—even if the student later completes the degree.
Case Title:
Inderpal Singh v. Himachal Pradesh University & Others
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