At present, the Bar Council of India, the statutory body constituted under the Advocates Act, 1961,

1) does not allow to pursue a LLB by distance learning/through evening     college

2) Those who have crossed 20 years of age & 30 years of age are not eligible to study even regular course of 5 year LLB and 3 year LLB respectively. 

3) And those who have completed 10+2 or graduation/post-graduation through open universities directly without having any basic qualification for prosecuting such studies are not eligible for admission in the law courses. 

If you feel that restrictions are to be removed, please sign this petition.  Please go through the following points before coming to a conclusion. 

1)      Status of Law Courses through distance mode in other countries

UK: Legal education in distance mode is accepted in UK by Law Society of England & Wales, as a qualifying law degree to become a barrister (advocate)

South Africa: Legal education in distance mode is an accepted method to become a lawyer in South Africa.

Likewise, legal education in distance mode is acceptable to study & practice in many countries including USA, Germany, China, Srilanka, Bangladesh.

2)      Education is regarded as an instrument of social change & transformation of the society.  Legal education can help to create the awareness about human rights and social justice.  Legal education gives confidence in decision making in our lives.

3)      All of us aware that, our country’s administration is on the shoulders of officers of Indian Administrative Service (IAS). The minimum qualification to appear for the civil services exam conducted by UPSC is any Bachelor’s Degree.  Any degree (regular/distance mode) is sufficient for getting an opportunity to appear for such a high level exam. Then why law course cannot be offered through distance/evening mode in India. 

4)      The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in some of its landmark judgements such as Deepak Sibal Vs Punjab University, etc had held that “the study of law should be encouraged as far as possible without any reasonable intervention”.

5)      Famous persons who have done their courses through distance mode:

 Nelson Mandela, a Nobel peace prize awardee, completed Bachelor in Law from University of London through distance learning while in prison.

 Our Hon’ble Prime Minister, Sri Narendra Modi hold a degree in Political Science from the reputed Delhi University through distance mode.

 Steven Spielberg (Hollywood Director),  Arnold Schwarzenegger (Hollywood Actor), James Franco (Hollywood Actor), Shaquille O’Neal (greatest basketball player of all time) are some of the famous personalities who have done their degrees in distance mode.

If the opportunity was not given then the above famous personalities might not have completed their courses.

6)      There is no doubt, Legal Profession is one of the most honorable professions.  Quality of education can be improved in so many ways.  But an opportunity should be given to study the course in evening colleges as well as through distance mode to become an advocate.         

In view of the above, I request you to please support this petition, which is meant for requesting to re-start LLB/BL through distance mode/evening course.

 In view of the above it is requested to re-start BL/LLB (Law) courses in evening/distance mode in India.