Promote LLB students on basis of previous year marks, current year’s internal exam: BCI

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 9

As COVID-19 lockdown disrupts academic calendar, Bar Council of India on Tuesday asked law schools/universities to promote students, except those in final year, on basis of previous year’s marks or current year’s internal examination.

Issuing guidelines for promotion of law students to the next academic year, BCI—which regulates legal education in India—final year students of three-year and five-year LLB courses may be allowed to appear for online examinations.

Alternatively, the universities may adopt any other appropriate method to satisfy the requirements of regular examination, BCI said in a release.

It said universities may allow final-year law students to write a project report/research paper for each paper of final year or they may adopt a foolproof method to double the internal marks of the semester exams already held for such year.

In case of final Year LLB students—who have not cleared all papers of previous years and are required to sit in the supplementary examination, but have been promoted to final year—such final year students may be allowed to write a project report or appear in online examination with regard to the pending/supplementary papers, so that they could also pass within time, BCI said.

“All students, except final-year students, will be promoted on the basis of performance of previous year’s marks and marks obtained in the internal examination of the current year,” it said.

However, BCI clarified that after reopening of campuses, the universities shall conduct the end semester examination with respect to the year from which they have been promoted, within a reasonable period of time, even though such promoted students shall continue to study in the year to which they have been promoted.

In case, they are unable to pass/clear any such paper of such end-semester exam of the year from which they have been promoted, they shall have to clear the same, before they are granted the degree, it said.

As regards students who have been promoted to the final year as LLB students, BCI said, they shall have to pass all papers in order to obtain their degrees.