Bar says alerted university in 2010, but DU differs

“The university administration came to know about the issue around September 5 when a letter from BCI reached its office. In this letter, the BCI had stated that they had written to the heads of three law centres under Faculty of Law in 2010. Prior to this, DU authorities had no inkling of the problem,” a university source said.

Following the receipt of the BCI letter, the source added, senior DU officials called a meeting. “The university administration is working on it. It had sought a month’s time to resolve the problem. Since the letter reached them a few days ago, the month-long extension is not yet over,” the source said.

According to the letter, dated September 3 and addressed to the DU Vice-Chancellor, the BCI has alleged that the university had not filed an application for affiliation and inspection by the BCI — a mandatory provision under a 2008 BCI notification.

BCI members have also maintained that in 2010, letters had been sent to DU’s Faculty of Law, apart from other law institutes in the country, to conform to the Legal Education Rules of 2008.

These rules stipulate that institutions which have not been inspected over five years will have to apply afresh to the BCI for approval of affiliation.

According to university sources, however, the 2010 letters were never discussed with the DU administration. “The university was kept in the dark about the issue. Since 2010, two or three law centre heads have come and gone,” the source said.