This case concerned a writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India challenging a communication of the University cancelling the provisional admission of the Petitioner to the 3-year LL.B. course on the ground that his degree was obtained from a London University and did not constitute a qualifying ‘First Degree’ for seeking admission to the 3-year LL.B. course in India.

A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court considered the provisions of the Advocates Act, 1961; the Rules of Legal Education, 2008 and the BCI Notification of 26^th August 2020 to arrive at its conclusion.

The Bench considered the Rules and held –

            “The provisions thus consistently contemplate a sequence – an applicant must first possess a qualifying graduation-level qualification and thereafter pursue the three-year degree course in law. This is not merely a requirement as to the nomenclature of the qualification. It reflects the very structure of the three-year LL.B. course as a second-stage professional law degree.”

 It further held –

            “We therefore find that the Petitioner’s foreign undergraduate law degree, merely by reason of its recognition by the BCI for the purposes contemplated under the applicable regulatory framework, cannot be treated as the antecedent ‘First Degree’ required under Rules 2(xxxi), 4(a) and 5(a) for admission to the three-year LL.B. course in India.”.

The Bench also considered the Petitioner’s grievance that the University, after granting provisional admission and accepting tuition fees, cancelled the admission by a brief communication without issuing a show cause notice, assigning reasons or affording an opportunity of hearing. The Bench then held –

            “A provisional admission or acceptance of tuition fees cannot confer an entitlement contrary to the governing statutory framework”.

The writ petition was dismissed and it was recorded –

            “…we hold that the Petitioner’s three-year undergraduate law degree obtained from Queen Mary University of London cannot, merely by reason of its recognition by the BCI for the purposes contemplated under the regulatory framework governing foreign law degrees, be treated as the qualifying ‘First Degree’ for admission to the three-year LL.B. course in India. The BCI Notification dated 26th August 2020 does not lead to a different conclusion.”.