The Tamil Nadu Establishment of Private Law Colleges (Prohibition) Bill, which is awaiting the Governor’s assent, has expectedly triggered a debate in academic circles in a State known for pioneering developments in the world of higher and professional education. The legislation proposes to ban establishment of private law colleges in the southern State.
The Bill states: “The Government has taken a policy decision to establish adequate number of Government law colleges in the State in a phased manner, to impart legal education at affordable cost. The past experience reveals that private trusts/societies are not able to provide legal education at affordable cost to the economically and socially weaker sections and also not able to continue to run the law colleges successfully. The government has, therefore, decided to prohibit the establishment of law colleges by private people in the State through this legislation.”
Putting the bill into perspective, retired Madras High Court judge Justice K Chandru says the issue can only be settled by the Central Government. “Though Education is in the Concurrent List of Schedule 7, where both the Centre and the State can enact laws, so far as higher education is concerned, it relates to Entry 66 of List 1. Constitutionally speaking, only the Central Government and the Parliament can make laws with respect to law colleges,” he argues.
Under the Advocates Act of 1961, the Bar Council of India was established to regulate legal practice and legal education in India, and also grant recognition to universities whose degree in law will serve as a qualification for students to enrol themselves as advocates upon graduation.
As things stand
Government law colleges in the southern State are affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University. Four deemed universities have over the past few years established separate schools of law after obtaining due approval from the Bar Council of India.
There are 1,000 law colleges in India out of which 800 are private. In Kerala there are 30 law colleges, in Andhra Pradesh 65, in Karnataka 65, and in UP 150. In contrast, Tamil Nadu has only seven government law colleges, in Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchy, Tirunelveli, Vellore and Chengalpattu; one Centre of Excellence in Chennai; one National Law School in Srirangam; one private law college in Salem and four deemed universities — Vellore Institute of Technology’s Law School, SRM School of Law (both established this year), Saveetha School of Law, all in Chennai, and SASTRA School of Law in Thanjavur, providing law courses.
“With only a few law colleges in Tamil Nadu, the High Court staff and the Law Department staff tend to go to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to join fly-by night law schools where they pay a fee for course material, contact classes, and question paper, and then pay for the degree also. Some of them are run in a single, small building or in a house — in Kolar, Kaalahasthi and Chitoor,” says Justice Chandru.
These institutions in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have in fact now come under the scanner of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, which is hearing a public interest litigation over the matter. However, Justice Chandru points out that there is a question of jurisdiction, and that a court in Tamil Nadu cannot regulate degrees from other States.
The need for quality private education in law has been felt elsewhere in the country, too. Elaborating the need to have a large pool of trained legal graduates, the Supreme Court had, in the State of Maharashtra vs Manubhai Pragaji Vashi case in 1995, observed:“If the State is unable to start colleges of its own, it is only appropriate that private law colleges, which are duly recognised by the concerned University and/or the Bar Council of India and/or other appropriate authorities...be afforded reasonable facilities to function effectively and in a meaningful manner...”
Recognition of Degrees from Other States
There is a fear that if the State were to ban private law colleges, in all likelihood the students will go to neighbouring states and get a degree, which is recognised by the Bar Council of India. There is substance in this apprehension, as in 2011 Justice V Dhanapalan of the Madras High Court had observed: “Only 2,314 students were admitted in law colleges (in Tamil Nadu) in the previous years. However, more than 3,728 law graduates were enrolled with the Tamil Nadu Bar Council during the year 2010 and 3,200 for the year 2011 up to August 2011, which goes to show that several law graduates studied outside Tamil Nadu.”
While the State, which has 32 districts, has only seven government colleges and four deemed universities for the teaching of law, it has over 550 self-financing engineering colleges, about 700 teachers’ training institutions, several medical colleges and about 600 nursing schools in the private sector. There have been several private educational trusts that made attempts to start law colleges in the past, but gave up due to bureaucratic hassles. Those in favour of making legal education accessible to a larger population feel there is a need to open up the sector and not ban private colleges.
The challenges
According to recent reports published in The New Indian Express, there is a dearth of full-time teachers in government law colleges in the State. Besides, not all teachers have postgraduate degrees required to teach subjects like contract law, constitutional law, property law and other disciplines.
“There is a vast difference between National Law Schools and Government Law Colleges,” says Justice Chandru speaking about the quality of education provided and arguing for a liberal policy in dealing with private law colleges.
Some like V Suresh, senior advocate and General Secretary, People’s Union for Civil Liberties, a human rights organisation, feels the Legal Department should focus on benchmarking legal education. “The teaching methods are not modern and the pedagogy needs to be improved,” he says. “The students should have a critical, analytical mindset, politico-historic understanding, and sensitivity to the directive principles of state policy and fundamental rights,” he adds.
He says that going by the Constitution, one cannot prevent anyone from establishing a college, as under Article 19(1)(g) the right to practise any occupation is guaranteed, of which running an educational institution is one. He, however, points out that legal education cannot be compared with other fields of education, because lawyers are operating as a bridge between the State and the people, (unlike other professions in which private education is allowed). “This can act as a defence for the State, if this legislation is challenged,” he opines.
Another point he says would favour the legislation is that “private law colleges are not able to provide legal education at an affordable cost. The fee in deemed universities is comparable to that of a National Law University. They charge more than a lakh rupees per year,” he says. The National Law School of India University, Bangalore, which was the first National Law University to be established in the country and is considered one of the most prestigious law schools charges Rs 1,76,200 pa for a BA LLB (Hons).
Setting an example for 30 years
The lone private law college in Tamil Nadu, the Central Law College in Salem, established some 30 years ago, is in a state of suspended animation with no admissions being made during the past four years after they did not receive Bar Council approval and due to student unrest demanding a reduction in fees. They hope to resume admissions in 2015.
Spread over three acres, the college is equipped with moot court halls, classrooms, library, computer labs and an auditorium, charged Rs 17,000 a year when it was last operational in 2010, a nominal sum compared to the fees of private deemed universities whose fees are higher than that of National Law Schools.
“Since inception, we haven’t charged any donation from students. We are charging only Rs 17,000 per annum for both the three-year BL degree course and the five-year BL integrated course. Even for an LKG seat, you have to pay at least Rs 35,000. We are the only institution providing legal education at such a reasonable rate in Tamil Nadu,” says D Saravanan, Advocate and Secretary, The Central Law College.
In 2004-05, when the Government introduced the 50-50 allotment process, where 50 per cent of the seats in private institutions were allotted by the Government and the rest by the institution, students who secured admission under the Government quota insisted on paying the same amount of fees that the Government Law Colleges charged, Rs 2000. This led to agitations by the students.
With no help from the Government to subsidise the fees for students under the Government quota, the college management says it will not be able to sustain operations if they were to accept fees as low as Rs 2,000 a year.
Dr Ambedkar Government Law College, Chennai
With the Government looking to establish more State-run law colleges, edex takes a peek into state of affairs of the Dr Ambedkar Government Law College, Chennai. Santosh Kumar, Principal of the college, says that because of running three-year and five-year law courses simultaneously, they cannot have more than four hours of teaching, unlike deemed universities that offer only the former. The college has a strength of 2,741 students and a teacher-student ratio of 1:60. The Bar Council of India mandates 1:40 ratio.
Following the violent clashes between two student groups on the campus in November 2008, the Justice P Shanmugam committee, a one-man inquiry commission instituted two days after the incident, made several findings and recommendations. It stressed the need for curbing the activities of caste-based organisations in the law college and hostel. It also found that the college and the hostel lacked an academic atmosphere, which formed the main setting for the clash.
“There is a vast difference on campus from 2008. Now, only 10 per cent of the students have outside caste-based associations. They are being given money by post and other means and are lured by other considerations to take part in disruptive activities. There is always caste and political activities outside, we cannot help it,” Kumar points out. The men’s hostel, which accommodates 163 students, is notorious for caste-based tension but the rhythm of the hostel is slowly changing, he says.
As far as permanent law subjects are concerned, the college is following the syllabus that was designed when the Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University took over in 1996. Amendments that have been introduced in various laws have not been added. The syndicate takes into consideration the request for revision of the syllabus, after which the issue goes to the law university. After elaborate discussions, if they approve, the syllabus gets changed on the recommendation of the board.
Prof Gowri Ramesh says that since 50 per cent of the students are children of judges or lawyers, they don’t access the college library and that they have their own library. However, a second-year BA BL course student has a different story. “There aren’t sufficient books in the library. Each subject usually has only one book. Indian Economy will have three or four books, Contract Law has only about three or four,” says the student, requesting anonymity.
“Teachers just come and take attendance. We don’t have a timetable. They take class as per their convenience. Sometimes we have a combined class of 80 students,” says another second-year student.
Jyothilingam K, an alumnus of the college says, “Most students enrol in political parties. To shine in the future, they believe they require this association with the parties. Attendance is not an issue. They catch hold of the peon, tamper with the attendance record and write their exams. If someone questions this, they will in turn be questioned about which party they belonged to.” He adds that out of 2,741 students on the rolls, only 1,500 students attend college regularly. As for the hostel, where only 104 students have been allotted rooms in the men’s hostel, Jyothilingam says there are around 200 students staying there, including former students. “Day scholars don’t involve themselves in strikes. The root of all problems lies in the hostel,” he adds.
“There are only two ways to reduce the caste and community based divide, one — keep the hostel in check. Second, transfer students with political affiliations to other Government Law Colleges in the State. Then the college can be peaceful. Unnecessarily, students who are regular in class are being disturbed. College is shut down every time there is a strike for 20-30 days,” he explains.
At Government Law College, Tiruchy, for 1,400 students in the college, only 19 teaching posts, including the librarian and physical director, have been sanctioned, out of which 14 are lying vacant. At Government Law College Madurai, out of 21 sanctioned posts, only five faculty members have been appointed.
The present condition of government law colleges in the State therefore begs the question, ‘Is the possible ban on private players justified?’
suraksha@newindianexpress.com, with inputs from P Vinithaa, Tiruchy