It seems that now LLB degree will be at par with MBBS and
BTech as the Supreme Court on Wednesday started the arduous task of initiating
"long overdue" reforms in legal education and in the profession of
advocacy.
Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice U U Lalit said that the system requires reforms at this point of time.
Chief justice added that students only opted for LLB when they couldn't get into other other professional streams like MBBS or BTech. So, LLB needs to be treated well instead of a free profession and requires transformation.
He further stated that legal professionals must be talented and of good quality because as a half-baked doctor is of no use, similarly a half-baked lawyer should not be permitted. He said this strengthening doesn't require holding of All India Bar Examination. AIBE would be scheduled on time; they just need to filter the test so that profession is not open to one and all. Every year, 60,000 more join the profession, of which 2,000-odd are from National Law Schools. Recently, BCI counsel Ardhendumauli Prasad was questioned by court for its decision to hold AIBE. A law graduate must clear the AIBE within two years of enrolling as an advocate to be able to continue practicing in court.
This matter was referred to a three-judge bench for evolving criteria to weed out non-serious lawyers from entering the profession. Chief justice praised Jammu and Kashmir's sound system where a law graduate enrolls as a pleader and practices for two years. After that, he gets enrolled as a 'vakil' and practises on the original side of the high court for three years. But now fresh graduates can join the court and argue cases without having proper knowledge of rules. The court posted the matter for further hearing before a three-judge bench on Friday.