Oldest law school mislabels LLB degree in certificates

Mumbai: In a lapse that has left students both bemused and concerned, the reputed Government Law College (GLC) in Churchgate has issued third-year, second-semester certificates carrying an incorrect expansion of the LLB degree as "Bachelor of Legislative Law," a nomenclature not recognised by the Bar Council of India or Mumbai University, under which the 170-year-old institution operates. ‘LLB' stands for the Latin term, ‘Legum Baacalaureus'. In English, it is referred to as ‘Bachelor of Laws'.

The certificates were issued just as students were preparing for their fourth-year, second-semester examinations. "We were shocked to receive marksheets that read we had cleared the sixth semester of bachelor of Legislative Law," said a student. "As fourth-year students, we start reaching out to law firms and foreign universities around this time. Legal firms and universities would have felt we are submitting fake certificates."

When contacted, principal Asmita Vaidya initially asked this reporter to check the "full form of LLB on the internet and on the MU website." When informed that it stands for Bachelor of Laws, she said the marksheet format was from the University of Mumbai. Later she said her college could not have issued a certificate with an erroneous expansion. On Friday, Vaidya told TOI that an office clerk had made the mistake after referring to an online source. "Fresh corrected certificates are being printed and distributed," she said.

By evening, the college issued a notice asking second, third and fourth year students to collect their marksheet "with the title as per university norms".

Students who had collected their marksheet on Wednesday were asked to return the erroneous certificates. Retired Supreme Court judge justice Abhay Oka said, "It is very unfortunate…We have to be very cautious as GLC has a name and it has immense fame associated with it. Such mistakes should be avoided." A senior Bar Council official also said such certificates would not be accepted.

Students also pointed to delays in issuance of certificates by GLC, an institution widely recognised as the oldest law school in Asia. Those from the 2027 graduating batch said until about 15 days ago, even first-semester exam certificates were not issued. "It is only today that I have received marksheets of semester 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6," said an eighth-semester student.

Vaidya said the delay was due to an external agency handling result preparation that "could not manage" timelines, following which the college undertook printing the results. Corrected marksheets began being issued from Friday.