The Kerala High Court on Thursday held that the minimum hours of lecture classes and tutorials and holding of moot courts and seminars as stipulated by the Bar Council of India (BCI) rules should be scrupulously followed by the universities and law colleges before scheduling examination of each semester.
Justice V.Chitambaresh made the observation while disposing of a writ petition filed by Satheesh Kumar and two other students of Ernakulam Law College complaining of not following the rule of the Bar Council of India regarding the working hours before holding examinations.
The court observed that the rules should be complied with.
It would instil more seriousness in the law students on their studies as in the case of medical and engineering students across the State.
The court held that the BCI rules should be scrupulously followed by the universities. These exercises were essential to shape out the best in the students, many of whom were destined to become lawyers, judicial officers, and parliamentarians.
Examination
The judgment stated that it was only after being convinced of the requisite number of lecture classes, tutorials, moot courts, and seminars that the examination for each of the semester should be scheduled.
According to the petitioner, the examinations were scheduled for the same days of third semester supplementary examination.
The petitioners complained that there were only 128 study hours in the tenth semester of the five-year course and 135 hours in the sixth semester of the three-year course. There was an overlapping of the semester examinations as far as the five-year LLB course was concerned.
