Ahmedabad: The Bar Council of India (BCI) has conditionally allowed 14 granted law colleges in Gujarat to participate in the admission process after they deposited inspection fees, application fees and penalty charges with the council.

With this approval, all 14 colleges will now be included in the centralised LLB admission process conducted through the Gujarat Common Admission System (GCAS). As a result, the state govt has decided to conduct one more admission round, with fresh online registrations beginning on Aug 20.

Earlier, these colleges were excluded from the admission process due to non-payment of inspection and penalty fees, as well as a shortage of required number of faculty members. Last year, the issue even reached the high court, where the state initially refused to release the fees.

Consequently, only seven to eight colleges could participate in the admission process. This year too, the case continued in the court until the govt assured payment of over Rs 11 crore towards inspection, penalty and related charges on behalf of the colleges. Following this assurance, the BCI granted conditional permission to 14 of the 28 granted law colleges in the state.

The conditional approval requires each college to appoint at least one principal and four faculty members, provide them salaries as per UGC rules and ensure proper infrastructure and library facilities. An affidavit confirming compliance with these requirements must be submitted to the council. Meanwhile, three of the approved colleges have filed fresh petitions in the high court, challenging the aspects of the decision.

With the inclusion of these colleges, students will get another opportunity for admissions as the GCAS process opens for new registrations on Aug 20, followed by an additional admission round.