MAHA CET LLB: Bombay HC directs correct interpretation of admission eligibility

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 15 : Hearing a writ petition, the Aurangabad Bench of Bombay High Court held that academic qualification as per MAHA CET LLB eligibility criteria should be secured in a sequential manner. The Bombay HC Aurangabad Bench also directed Maharashtra State CET Cell for correct interpretation of admission eligibility as enclosed in provisions of the Rules of Legal Education as framed by Bar Council of India (BCI).

The Bombay HC directing the Maharashtra CET Cell laid down the following order–

1. The applicants who have obtained 10+2 or graduation/post-graduation through Open University systems directly, without having any basic qualification for prosecuting such studies (undergraduate law programmes) are not eligible for admissions in the law courses.
2. Candidates need to obtain the academic qualification prescribed in the pattern of 10+2 for five-year integrated law programmes and 10+2+3 for three-year LLB programmes, in order to be eligible for admissions. This means that the candidates having non-sequential education qualification will not be considered eligible for admissions.

Curious cases of ‘disruptive’ educational qualification

In two different petition writ cases filed before the Bombay HC with reference to MAHA CET LLB last year, the court noticed that candidates qualifying the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test of law programmes did not follow the sequential order of their academic qualification.

Sample this, one of the petitioners qualified MH CET LLB after securing a graduation degree in 2017 followed by qualifying 12 ^th standard examination in the year 2018. Thereby according to the Rules of Legal Education framed by the BCI and upon subsequent order passed by the Aurangabad Bench of Bombay HC, the candidate was not considered eligible as the obtained academic degree was not in the sequential manner of 10+2+3, rather it was carried in a ‘disruptive’ manner.

The sequential manner of obtaining academic qualification is Class 10 ^th examination, followed by Class 12 ^th examination, subsequently followed by Graduation Degree examination for admissions to three-year LLB programmes.

MAHA CET LLB

The CET Cell of Maharashtra is conducting MAHA CET LLB on May 11, 2019 for which the application process will begin tomorrow, i.e., February 16, 2019. The last date to fill MH CET Law 2019 application form for three-year LLB admissions is March 15, 2019.

The MAHA CET for five-year integrated law programmes is scheduled to be held online on April 21, 2019 for which the application process has already begun and will conclude by March 11, 2019.