Age limit rule may hit LLB admission process in Kerala

KOCHI: The bar Council of India (BCI) has made it clear that the upper age limit for admission to three-year LLB courses will be 30 years and that for five-year courses, it will be 20 years. At present there is no upper age limit for the courses.
The BCI joint secretary Ashok Kumar Pander, in a letter to all the law college principals and university vice-chancellors on September 17, said that after a Supreme Court order, Clause 28 of Legal Education Rules 2008 has been restored and the institutions have to comply with it.
Clause 28 that deals with age restriction was notified in March 2009. Subsequently, BCI had withdrawn Clause 28 vide a resolution in 2013. However, the withdrawal was challenged in the Madras high court which termed it as illegal. The BCI's appeal in the SC was also dismissed.
Meanwhile, the commissioner of entrance exams (CEE) that conducts the qualifying exam for admission to law colleges in the state is in a fix. "We have already conducted the entrance exam and the merit list is out. As per the prospectus, there is no age limit fixed. If we suddenly bring in an upper age limit, then it can be challenged in court," said a CEE official.
There are 245 three-year course seats available in eight private colleges and 400 in four government law colleges in the state. For the five-year course, there are 320 seats in four government and 920 seats in 18 self-financing colleges.
"Almost 10 % of the students who take admission in three-year LLB course are above the age of 30. We have very few older students in five-year LLB course," said a law college teacher.