The Bar Council of India (BCI) has issued a show cause notice to Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University (RMLNLU), Lucknow, alleging that the varsity’s public statements regarding the status of its approval were factually incomplete, legally unsustainable and materially misleading.
The regulatory body stated that the lapse in approval was not attributable to any delay on its part, but was the consequence of the University’s own omissions, delayed filings, non-compliance and failure to secure continuous approval for the relevant academic sessions.
Issued on June 6 by BCI Principal Secretary Srimanto Sen and Additional Secretary Nalin Raj Chaturvedi, the notice referred to a media report published on June 2 in which the University had reportedly stated that renewal of its BCI approval from 2023 onwards was pending before the Council. The issue gained prominence after students staged a protest on May 27, raising concerns over, among other grievances, the varsity’s absence from the BCI’s list of approved Centres of Legal Education (CLEs).
The Council clarified that the varsity’s position failed to disclose crucial facts concerning the regulatory process. According to BCI, the entries reflected on the BCI portal for the academic sessions 2024-25 and 2025-26 merely related to the “updation” of existing CLEs/University, which involved submission of information regarding infrastructure and institutional particulars. These filings did not constitute applications seeking extension or renewal of approval for law programmes, it noted.
BCI stated that the substantive application seeking extension of approval was filed by RMLNLU only on April 1, 2026, along with the prescribed application fee and late fee. The application sought retrospective extension of approval from the academic session 2023-24 onwards. According to BCI, portal updation could not be equated with statutory approval, and a belated application could not retrospectively cure the University’s failure to secure prior and continuing approval for academic sessions that had already commenced, progressed or concluded.
The Council further rejected the University’s apparent reliance on payment of fees as evidence of approval. It clarified that approval, renewal or extension was not granted automatically upon payment of an application fee, late fee, processing fee or portal registration fee. The grant of approval remained subject to statutory scrutiny and regulatory compliance under the applicable legal framework.
The BCI also raised concerns regarding the University’s compliance with financial requirements prescribed under the Rules of Legal Education, 2008. According to the Council’s records, RMLNLU deposited only Rs 1 lakh towards the mandatory guarantee or security amount, whereas an interest-free refundable deposit of Rs 5 lakh per law degree course was required. The University has been directed to explain the apparent shortfall of Rs 4 lakh.
The compliance affidavit submitted by RMLNLU also came under examination. The BCI noted that the affidavit reflected approval only up to the academic session 2022-23. It further contained an undertaking under Rule 14 of Chapter III of the Rules of Legal Education, 2008, whereby the varsity had acknowledged that no student would be admitted and no law course would be conducted without obtaining prior approval and continued recognition from the BCI. In light of this undertaking, the Council stated that the University could not justify continuing admissions or academic activities merely on the ground that an application was pending consideration or that fees had been deposited.
The show cause notice called upon the varsity to explain several alleged regulatory violations, including failure to maintain continuity of approval after the 2022-23 academic session, failure to submit proper extension applications for three consecutive academic years, admission of students without valid prior approval from the BCI, and dissemination of public statements that allegedly omitted material facts concerning the status of its approval.
BCI also directed RMLNLU to issue a corrective public statement through the same media outlets and public platforms where its earlier position was circulated.
Addressing concerns relating to students, the Council clarified that students admitted during the last duly approved academic session of 2022-23 should not suffer adverse consequences merely because of the University’s subsequent failure to maintain approval continuity. However, in respect of students admitted from the academic session 2023-24 onwards, the Council stated that the responsibility for regularising all deficiencies and securing compliance before such students complete their studies and seek enrolment as advocates rests entirely upon the University.
The Council observed that educational institutions cannot expose students to uncertainty regarding the validity of their legal education and thereafter shift responsibility to the regulatory authority. It emphasised that the burden of ensuring continuous recognition and compliance lies squarely with the institution.
The BCI has further reserved its right to undertake a regulatory inspection of the University, withhold or refuse extension of approval, and initiate any additional regulatory or disciplinary measures warranted by the record and the University’s response to the show cause notice.
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