With the introduction of the first-ever Maharashtra law common entrance test for admissions for three and five year law programmes and with the state government according professional status to law studies along the lines of engineering and medical education, there are many changes this year in admissions to law colleges. While the first-ever law CET is expected to take place on June 18 and 19 for which registration of candidates has already ended, principals of law colleges say they have no intimation of the admission procedure that would follow as the state is yet to announce the schedule. Even higher education authorities are clueless about what follows next. “The state government has only told us to conduct the CET so far, the other instructions haven’t been given,” said Dr Vijay Narkhede, joint director of higher education. [related-post] College principals are concerned about the merit criteria that would be used to allot admissions under the new procedure. At DES Navalmal Firodia Law College, where the cut-off percentage last year for admission into a five-year law course was 85 per cent, principal Rohini Honap said, “The state government has not declared anything officially but there were talks that all students who appear for CET will get seats, even if they get low scores. Naturally merit is a concern but we are hoping for some clarity soon.” Meanwhile, with the last date for registration for the CET (May 23) already lapsed and no clarity so far on how students will be allotted colleges, principals say it is even more important that students are careful in selecting their list of colleges. “Usually, students have some idea on which stream of law they want to get into after graduation like litigation or corporate law. Hence, before filling the preference list, students should check available courses, faculty and even prospects for higher studies,” added Honap. Meanwhile, the newly-introduced CET is only for university-affiliated law colleges. However, for deemed universities, the status remains the same like earlier where colleges can go for their own admission process. While at Symbiosis Law School, the entrance exam is already over and personal interviews started on Friday, those students who have missed the bus by not filling any law CET form can still pursue law by registering for Bharati Vidyapeeth’s New Law College until June 3, as entrance exams are on June 11. Both the law schools are the only ones in Pune to offer a five-year law course in Bachelor of Business Administration law degree besides the Bachelor of Arts LLB degree offered by all others. Asked about the trends in legal education, Mukund Sarda, dean of New Law College and also member of the legal education committee of the Bar Council of India, said the trend is moving towards ICT application in law. “Gone are the days when lawyers would run from one courtroom to another to put forth arguments, the trend is moving towards an e-court system of e-lawyering and e-justice. We have started to see a beginning by way of filing online petitions and video conferencing. I am sure that soon we will catch up with this global trend and hence, ICT application in law is one area that students must consider,” he said. “Students must check what kind of paralegal or diploma courses are available that can add to their specialisation, especially consider courses from an international perspective as there is lot of scope both in India and abroad for certain specialities like commercial law, arbitration etc. Keeping the climate of foreign investment in India in mind, laws related to foreign investment, merger and acquisitions will be in great demand,” he added. Shashikala Gurpur, dean of Symbiosis Law School agreed that students’ interest in new age specialisations has increased tremendously. According to her, specialisation in intellectual property, cyber laws, infrastructure, short term, diploma in international business and commercial law, sports or entrepreneurship related laws are some of the more popular specialised short term courses sought by students.
