The Delhi High Court in New Millennium Education Society & Anr V. Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University & Anr directed the Bar Council of India (BCI) to constitute special expert teams to conduct surprise visits of law colleges that lack minimum infrastructure and adequate facilities.
It was observed during the course of the hearing that the status of legal education in India is pitiful to say the least. It was explicitly observed that “There are law colleges where you may not have sufficient faculty, no classrooms, no library, etc. It is unfortunate that this Court is being constrained to remark that there are law colleges where you have to just go and pay the fees, the rest is taken care of. It is surprising to state that how can a legal profession or how can we as stakeholders of legal education tolerate this kind of situation. It is a great responsibility cast upon the Bar Council of India to shut down such institutions.”
“It is also evident that proper standards of education cannot be achieved unless there are adequate infrastructural facilities in the campus like classrooms, libraries, laboratories, well-equipped teaching staff of requisite caliber and a proper student-teacher ratio. Therefore, before increasing the strength of students in these institutes, it is essential that the existing infrastructure is upgraded.”
“The Bar Council of India as the regulator of Legal Education in India has the power and duty to carry out inspection in law colleges across India. In Prasoon Shekhar v. CPIO, the Central Information Commission directed the BCI to publish the inspection reports of colleges teaching law on its website. Doing so will help the aspirants who wish to pursue a degree in law to make an informed choice regarding their college and would go a long way in ensuring that the status of Legal Education in India is upgraded.”
Accordingly, the Court directed GGSIPU and Delhi Government's Directorate of Higher Education to maintain status quo regarding the already admitted students in the institute in previous academic session in compliance with the past judicial orders.