The court underscores the importance of timely course completion in legal education to ensure fairness in professional opportunities.

JUDGMENT

Dated this the 21^st day of January, 2025 The petitioners are the students of 2019-2024 batch pursuing the integrated BBA LL.B (Hons.) program at the School of Indian Legal Thought (SILT), Kottayam. The petitioners commenced their academic year in August, 2019 with the legitimate expectation of completing the five-year integrated program by August, 2024, as per the academic calendar prescribed by the University.

2. However, contrary to this timeline, there has been an inordinate delay in completing their Course. The corresponding batches in other Law Colleges under the Mahatma Gandhi University have concluded their Courses and the students were enrolled as Advocates in October, 2024. The delay in completing the academic Course in SILT has caused significant prejudice to the petitioners. They are unable to proceed with their professional aspirations, including enrollment with the Bar Council and participation in Legal Internships and competitive examinations, due to the unwarranted delay. 3. Now, the University has issued Ext.P4 Election Notification. The petitioners apprehend that the respondents will postpone all examinations including internal examinations till the completion of election process. In such a situation, the petitioners' Course will be delayed further.

4. It is learnt that the next date of enrollment will be in the 1^st week of January, 2025. Unless the respondents conclude the examination and publish the results by the end of December, 2024, the petitioners may not be able to enroll with the Bar Council of Kerala in the next enrollment process.

Hence, the petitioners have filed this writ petition.

5. Standing Counsel entered appearance and resisted the writ petition. A statement dated 08.01.2025 has been filed by the Standing Counsel on behalf of the University.

Paragraph 3 of the statement reads as follows: "The Regulations of 5 year BBA LL.B (Hons.) Course in School of Indian Legal Thought are framed in consonance with the Bar Council of India Rules regarding Legal Education. The students of 2019- 2024 Batch is the second Batch of 5 Year BBA LL.B(Hons) programme under the Credit and Semester Scheme. Their First Semester Classes started on August 2019. Regulations for the Five Year BBA LL.B(Hons) programme Credit & Semester Scheme Clause 7- sub clause 7.1 clearly states that "The duration of each semester shall be Five months. There shall be at least 90 actual Instructional days in each semester and a minimum of 36 Instructional Hours in a five-day week". As per the academic Calendar of Tenth Semester (2019 batch) the classes commenced from 5^th September 2024 and the Dispatch of result to the CSS is fixed on 17th February, 2025."

As the University is to dispatch the result to the CSS on

17.02.2025, no further reliefs are necessary in this writ petition.

6. It is to be noted that the School of Indian Legal Thought functioning under the Mahatma Gandhi University is a prestigious and premier Law School in Kerala under the Public Sector. It is stated that consistently the University is failing to complete the Courses within the stipulated five-years and the more meritorious students who get admitted to the Law School are put to a disadvantageous position inasmuch as Law students studying in other Colleges will be enrolled as Lawyer much earlier than the students of the 5^th respondent. In the circumstances, it is highly necessary that effective steps be taken to compete the Five-Year LLB Courses within the stipulated five years in future. As soon as results are declared Course completion Certificate shall be issued to the petitioners expeditiously.

The writ petition is disposed of recording the submission made by the University. A copy of this judgment shall be placed before the 2^nd respondent-Vice Chancel