Law minister Salman Khurshid is unlikely to intervene in HRD ministry’s proposed move to establish National Council for Higher Education and Research, which proposes to acquire regulatory sway over legal education, despite serious objections being raised by the Bar Council of India.
It is understood that Mr Khurshid may not intervene in the matter due to his proximity with HRD minister Kapil Sibal, who has been pushing for the inclusion of legal education under the ambit of NCHER. The BCI’s attempts at garnering support from the law minister have proved to be futile so far.
Incidentally, the law ministry’s stance is contrary to what it was during the tenure of the previous law minister Dr M. Veerappa Moily who had supported the BCI and opposed the human resource development ministry’s plan to bring legal education under the NCHER.
Sources stated government attempts to bring legal education under a regulatory body are likely to go through as Mr Khurshid is understood to not lend any support to the BCI in its opposition for inclusion of the proposal.
Due to these developments the government appears to be headed towards a confrontation with the BCI on the issue of legal education coming under the ambit of the NCHER, an overarching regulatory body for higher education in the country, as the council has decided not to let go of its control over legal education.
While legal education is controlled by the Bar Council of India, the move by the HRD ministry attempts to introduce an element of government control by bringing it under the ambit of a government regulator.
Official sources stated that the Bar Council had approached the law minister, however, the minister is understood to have expressed his inability in intervening in the matter. The BCI has also given a call for a boycott of courts on January 20 to protest against the move, which it claims is an attempt to control the legal fraternity. Mr Khurshid’s cold shoulder to the BCI’s cause has been in stark contrast to the stand taken by the then law and justice minister Dr M. Veerappa Moily who has vehemently opposed the attempts made by the HRD ministry to bring in legal education under the NCHER. In fact, Mr Moily’s opposition was the reason that the NCHER bill could not be introduced in Parliament for several months and a further consultation process on the issue was ordered.