No quot;practicequot; for law profs

March 4: A circular issued by the University of Mumbai recently barred full-time professors and lecturers in law from practicing in courts o...

March 4: A circular issued by the University of Mumbai recently barred full-time professors and lecturers in law from practicing in courts or tribunals.

The circular issued by Vice Chancellor Snehalata Deshmukh said, quot;It has been brought to the notice of the University of Mumbai that some full-time teachers and principals of the affiliated law colleges are practicing as lawyers in the courts and tribunals, though they are prohibited from doing so by the Bar Council of India and the University Grants Commission UGC. quot;It has also been brought to our notice that some Deans of this university have been appearing in the courts against the University of Mumbai.quot; The circular was issued under section 14 8 of the Maharashtra Universities Act, 1994, and came into effect in January this year.

Reacting to the circular Professor Prakash K Mokal, who is a full-time professor at the Government Law College GLC for the last 14 years, said that such a blanket ban on legal academicians is not desirable. quot;If theprofessor is committed to his students, then an occasional practice will sharpen his pedagogic skill and also keep him abreast with the latest cases.quot; Students from the GLC, Rashmi Shetty and Puja Puri, agree with Mokal over practising professors. However, they also pointed out that these professors usually have little time for students.

quot;Some of our part-time professors do not come due to their preoccupations at the court. Consequently, they rush through the course later and have no time for you if you haven8217;t understood in the class,quot; they said.

Shetty observed that they have only three months of actual classes in a year. quot;It would serve a better purpose if they have more full-time professors. A non-practising professor can take us to court and educate us about the functioning of the court unlike his more busy practicing colleague.quot;

On the one hand, as of now there are about two full-time professors including the principal in each of the seven-odd city law colleges. The restriction on outsidepractice may discourage prospective candidates from joining as full-time professors since it would deprive them of a lucrative supplementary income. Especially when unlike their medical counterparts, legal academicians do not get non-practitioners8217; allowance, maintained Professor Mokal.

Counters the Vice-Chancellor, quot;Those who are interested in teaching will any way join college. Besides, these days, academicians are paid as per the UGC pay scales. We are keeping a vigil on the university department and colleges to ensure strict observance of the circular.quot; Principal of Siddharth College of Law, D J Gangurde said, quot;Our job requires that a teacher remain within the college premises. According to UGC guidelines, there should be a minimum 40-hours attendance in a week. We cannot afford to have practicing full-time professors.quot;