Maharashtra orders 103 law colleges to apply for BCI recognition within 24 hours

The Maharashtra Directorate of Higher Education (DHE) has issued show-cause notices to 103 law colleges across Maharashtra, ordering them to apply for Bar Council of India (BCI) recognition within 24 hours. The decision, which directly impacts law school admissions in Mumbai and the rest of the state, was finalized during a meeting on Wednesday.

The meeting was led by Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil and Shailendra Deolankar, the Director of Higher Education. Following the minister's directive, the DHE decided to give the colleges a strict 24-hour deadline to submit their applications to the BCI.

Under the state's updated rules, these 103 colleges will only be permitted to participate in the state Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell's centralised admission and counselling process after they submit their BCI application letters.

Deolankar explained that while a formal recognition letter from the BCI typically takes time to process, the state is allowing colleges to move forward in the admissions process based solely on their submission of the application letter. This decision was made to ensure that the centralised admission process does not experience further delays.

For the current academic year, the DHE has mandated that all law colleges must possess three specific documents to participate in the CET Cell's counselling: an approval from the DHE office, a recognition letter from the BCI, and an affiliation certificate from their university. Out of the 352 law colleges operating in Maharashtra, many have struggled to meet these combined criteria.

In addition to the BCI recognition issue, more than 30 law colleges remain excluded from the centralised admission process after being denied affiliation certificates by Mumbai University. These colleges have not yet received relief, and several are waiting for Mumbai University to release its shortcomings report so they can move court.