Sanjeev Sharadchandra Deshpande vs Commissioner And Competent ...
2023 Latest Caselaw 6273 Bom

                                                                      P4-OSWPL-32006-2022.DOC




                                                                                                Ashwini



                         IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
                              ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION
                                   WRIT PETITION (L) NO. 32006 OF 2022

                    Sanjeev Sharadchandra Deshpande                                   ...Petitioner
                          Versus
                    Commissioner & Competent Authority,                           ...Respondents
                    State Common Entrance Test Cell & Anr


                    Mr Aditya Kharkar, i/b Siddhesh Pilankar, for the Petitioner.
                    Mr Sameer Khadekar, with Bharti Gerella, for Respondent No. 1.
                    Mr Shekhar Jagtap, with Sairuchita Choudhary, for Respondent No.
                         2-BCI.


                                                  CORAM     G.S. Patel &
ASHWINI
H                                                           Neela Gokhale, JJ.

GAJAKOSH Digitally signed DATED: 3rd July 2023 by ASHWINI GAJAKOSH Date: 2023.07.04 PC:-

10:44:22 +0530

1. Heard. Leave to amend. Amendment is to be carried out by 10th July 2023 without need of reverification. A copy of the amendment will be served on the Advocates for all the Respondents.

2. The Petition was filed in 2022 when the Petitioner had only sat for the CET 2022. He has lost a year. He has now appeared for the CET 2023 but has been told that he cannot participate in the admission rounds and is ineligible because his educational background is that after his 10th standard, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree of three years' duration from an open university

3rd July 2023

P4-OSWPL-32006-2022.DOC

admittedly recognised by the UGC and also by the Bar Council of India. It is thereafter that the Petitioner did the first qualifying examination of the HSC. Thus, his pattern was 10+3+2 instead of the usual 10+2+3.

3. The question appears to have been decided by a Full Bench of this Court in Vishnu Rambhaji Harishchandre v Bar Council of India Through Secretary & Ors,1 (comprising of SV Gangapurwala J, as he then was, RG Avachat J and RN Laddha J). The Full Bench specifically dealt with the proviso to Rule 5 of the Legal Education Rules 2008 and with the interpretation of the words "basic qualification". It held that, read harmoniously, the proviso says that an applicant who has passed the first degree certificate after prosecuting studies in distance or correspondence method is also to be considered as eligible for admission.

4. We are not shown today that this judgment has been reversed or the operative order has been stayed. We do not see how the Bar Council of India, or any other authority, can act in a manner that is inconsistent with the Full Bench decision of this Court.

5. Accordingly, and even pending amendment, we permit the Petitioner to participate in the admission rounds for the three-year LLB course from 2023 onwards. All concerned will act on production of an authenticated copy of this order.

1 Writ Petition No. 6752 of 2021 decided on 4th May 2022.

3rd July 2023

P4-OSWPL-32006-2022.DOC

6. We are informed by the 1st Respondent that the date has been extended till 10th July 2023. The statement is noted.

 (Neela Gokhale, J)                                      (G. S. Patel, J)





                               3rd July 2023