Supreme Court lets murder convicts study law, slams BCI for opposition

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday said the Bar Council of India had no business to get into legal education, which should be left to jurists and academicians. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh made the remarks while dismissing a petition of Bar Council of India challenging a Kerala high court order of Nov 23, 2023, which had allowed two men convicted for murder by the trial court to pursue LLB classes virtually.

"Bar Council of India has no business to go into this legal education part... Legal education should be left to the jurists, to the legal academicians... and please have some mercy on the legal education of this country," Justice Kant remarked.

The BCI counsel said the larger question was over convicts being allowed to attend classes virtually, which was contrary to UGC regulations.

The bench asked what happens when they are acquitted by the superior courts and said, "Why would BCI challenge this kind of progressive order?"

Bar Council of India, the bench said, should have supported the high court order instead of adopting a "conservative" and "orthodox view".

The BCI counsel said it was not seeking a stay of the high court order but only urging the apex court to consider the larger question of the law involved in the said case.

The top court dismissed the plea and upheld the Kerala high court order allowing the two convicts to attend the LLB classes through online mode in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case.