Kashmir University Law Students Barred from Exams, Cite Breach of BCI Rules

SRINAGAR: Students at the School of Law, University of Kashmir, have accused the department of violating the Bar Council of India’s Legal Education Rules, 2008, by enforcing attendance penalties without completing the mandatory teaching weeks and class hours prescribed under national regulations.

Students alleged that the department has not met the minimum requirements under Rule 10, which mandate at least 18 teaching weeks per semester and not less than 30 class hours per week for integrated law programmes, including tutorials, moot courts, and practical exercises. Despite this, the department has published attendance shortage lists and barred several students from appearing in the ongoing semester examinations. The students have already paid the exam fee and the admit cards have been issued.

Students said that under the BCI framework, attendance cannot be computed unless the institution completes the full teaching schedule. They also pointed to Rule 12, which mandates 70 per cent attendance for exam eligibility, but only after institutions meet their obligations under Rule 10.

“We are not demanding leniency; we are demanding fairness and compliance with the very laws our institution teaches us to uphold,” one student said.

The situation escalated on Thursday when several BALLB first-semester students were reportedly forced out of their examination hall after having already taken their first paper earlier in the schedule. Students described the move as “arbitrary and discriminatory,” saying they were not given clarity or written justification. Students alleged that the department is saying that they will cancel the first paper too.

The aggrieved students cited the 2025 Delhi High Court ruling in the Sushant Rohilla case, where the Court held that institutions must comply with teaching-day requirements before enforcing attendance norms. The judgment warned that failing to meet these obligations forces students into de facto 100 per cent attendance, defeating the intended 70 per cent leeway. They also referred to Adarsh Raj Singh v Bar Council of India (2018), in which the Court directed strict compliance with the Legal Education Rules across recognised law colleges.

Students said they have submitted multiple representations to the Head of the Department, requesting that the semester be extended until the mandatory 18-week requirement is met. However, they claimed that no response has been received.

Kashmir Life attempted to contact university officials and the exam controller, but they did not respond.