Plea Seeking Modification of 5-Year Law Degrees

Case Description

On 30 April 2025, Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay filed a public interest litigation, seeking directions to the Centre to establish a Legal Education Commission or an Expert Committee to review the syllabus, curriculum and duration of Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Law. The petition contends that an updated framework is urgently required to mark a break from the current 5-year curriculum, which is “exorbitant” and “disincentivizing” for law students. 

In 1986, Professor Jill Cottrell, Senior Lecturer in Law in the University of Warwick published a paper in the Journal of Legal Education, tracing the foundations of Legal Education in India. He noted that legal education in India has always been a graduate subject—a student shall hold a Bachelor’s in Arts, Commerce or Science before embarking on the study of law, after which a three-year degree course (called the LL.B. or B.L.) may be undertaken. Therefore, 10 + 2 + 3 + 3 was the common design for obtaining a law degree.

As early as 1983, the Bar Council of India (BCI) introduced the 5-Year LL.B. programme, offering an alternative curriculum design of 10 + 2 + 5, which enabled students to study law immediately after completing their secondary education. With its establishment the National Law School University of India (NLSIU), it became one of the first universities to adopt the integrated programme. The 3-Year LL.B. program still continues today for those who take up law after completing any other degree. 

There are 27 National Law Schools offering five-year courses such as B.A. LL.B., B.Sc. LL.B., B.Com. LL.B., BBA LL.B., etc. Admission to these courses are carried out through the Common Law Entrance Test or CLAT. Private universities take admissions either through CLAT or their own entrance examinations. 

Upadhyay’s petition notes that while the Ministry of Education has promoted 4-year Bachelor’s Degrees across professional and educational courses through the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the Bar Council of India (BCI) has failed to implement the same in law degrees. It claims that the current 5-year duration deprives law students of opportunities available under the NEP, making the program needlessly long and financially burdensome. 

The petition additionally suggests that humanities or commerce subjects should be dropped from the Bachelor’s curriculum since they stretch the duration of the program. It notes that revising the duration of LL.B. programs to four years will allow students to pursue academic opportunities, prepare for competitive exams or gain work experience sooner. The petition suggests that students may look for internships, job opportunities or prepare for competitive exams in the 5th year after their 4-year degree. It also recommends replacing the 5-year BA/BBA-LL.B. with an integrated LL.B.-LL.M.. 

Similar petitions challenging the BCI Rules regarding LL.M. programs are already before the Supreme Court. In January 2021, the Bar Council of India introduced the Legal Education Rules, 2020, eliminating 1-year LL.M. programs. Days later, Tamanna Chandan Chanchlani—a holder of a foreign degree—moved the Supreme Court challenging the 2020 Rules, demanding that 1-year LL.M. degrees, whether obtained in India or abroad, be recognised. While the BCI assured the Court that the changes would not be implemented immediately, the challenge remains pending before the Court. A Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notice in the petition on 9 September 2025, and was later tagged with Upadhyay’s PIL. 

On 8 September, the Court flagged the need for appointment of a body of legal experts on legal education, noting that the Union should “come out with something” on the matter.