A public interest litigation (PIL) has been moved Today (April 16th) before the Supreme Court seeking that students be allowed to pursue 3-year law courses right after school. Law courses pursued right after school are currently of 5-years, while those pursued after graduation (LL.B.) are three-year courses.
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NEW DELHI: A petition has been lodged with the Supreme Court, advocating for a shift in the educational pathway to law. The petition argues against the current requirement for aspiring lawyers to undertake a five-year integrated course before beginning their careers. Instead, it proposes a more streamlined approach, allowing students to pursue a three-year Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree immediately following high school.
The core argument hinges on the belief that a five-year duration for legal studies is disproportionate and unnecessarily burdensome both financially and temporally for students. The petitioner posits that,
“5 precious years is not proportional to study Law and fourthly, this puts excessive financial burden on the students to complete such a lengthy degree. Had there been less time of 03 years for finishing the bachelor degree, the student could have gotten 02 undisturbed years to obtain practical knowledge in Court or Law Firm or to pursue Master degree or to prepare for judicial exam.”
Furthermore, the plea invokes the illustrious careers of the late jurists Fali S. Nariman and Ram Jethmalani as benchmarks. It questions the rationale behind delaying the commencement of legal careers, arguing that,
“If a person can become a legend of the bar by starting their law career in just 17 years, then why should the youth waste 02 additional years of their life in the 05 years integrated course and not start their career from a young age of 20-21 years? … There are numerous examples of prodigies not being encumbered by a rigid system which focuses more on being the jack of all rather than being the master of one.”
The petitioner, Upadhyay, suggests that the insistence on a five-year course is largely due to the preferences of elite educational institutions. He emphasizes the disparity between the requirements for entering other professions and those for law, stating,
“Students don’t need a Bachelor of Arts to gain preliminary knowledge or law. Then why should Students be forced to waste 2 years obtaining it? … A student can become an IAS Officer after a simple graduation and attaining 21 years but for becoming a lawyer, he has to complete 05 years course after 12th standard, which is irrational.”
This plea underscores a significant conversation around legal education reform in India, focusing on the balance between academic preparation and practical experience, and the financial and temporal costs associated with becoming a lawyer.
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