New Delhi, Feb 5 : Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal said on Thursday that only those evening law college graduates who passed the LL.B. course in the academic year 1999-2000 or earlier are entitled to be enrolled as an advocate as per the Bar Council of India (BCI) rules.

Meghwal, in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, said that only those LL.B. degree holders who did not complete their law degree through the evening classes till the academic year 1999-2000 were ineligible to practice law.

He said no state-wise recognition of evening, night-school, part-time, weekend, holiday, online or distance LL.B. courses exists or has existed since 2000â??2001, a position reiterated by the Bar Council of India through statutory rules, circulars.

Meghwal said the BCI has informed that under the earlier Rules of Legal Education, 1989, the Council had permitted and recognised evening LL.B. courses offered by certain universities and law colleges, including institutions in Delhi and some other States, subject to compliance with the then-prevailing standards.

However, with effect from the academic year 2000â??2001, the Bar Council of India, through the Rules of Legal Education, 1999, referred to that time as Standards of Legal Education and Recognition of Degrees in Law (Rules), discontinued the recognition of evening law degree courses across all States, he said.

The BCI has consistently maintained this position under its Rules of Legal Education, 2008, which mandate that LL.B. is a regular, full-time professional course requiring prescribed daily and weekly classroom hours, minimum attendance, and a fixed academic teaching window between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.

In reply to another question, the MoS said the Government of India has taken various initiatives to promote and strengthen Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms, including institutional arbitration.

To enable preferred recourse to institutional arbitration, the India International Arbitration Centre Act, 2019, has been enacted, leading to the establishment of the India International Arbitration Centre, thereby creating an independent and autonomous body for facilitating institutional arbitration, said Meghwal.

The Centre, since its establishment, has conducted workshops, conferences and seminars relating to domestic and international arbitrations, for awareness and training, and CPSEs/PSUs have participated in it.

/IANS