Delhi High Court: Writ Petition Challenges Prohibition On Practice By LLM Students.

 
The Delhi High Court has agreed to look into a writ petition challenging the prohibition on legal practice or undertaking employment by students pursuing LLM courses in Delhi University.
A Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Chander Shekhar has sought response from the university on a plea by a student, Kumar Piyush Pushkar, challenging a 2015 Ordinance.
Advocates Anirudh Bakhru and Shadman Ahmed Siddiqui contended that Clause 8 of the Ordinance brought out by the university prohibits students from “engaging in any trade, business or profession”.
It is this “blanket prohibition” imposed on students, barring them from engaging in any gainful employment, that has been challenged as contrary to Articles 14, 19 (1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution.
This, they said, has not only financially crippled the students pursuing LLM course, but has also ensured that the two-year programme is open only to those students who have financial support.
Mr. Pushkar had claimed that LLM students across the country are permitted to practice law by the Bar Council of India.
Apart from the Ordinance, Mr. Pushkar has also challenged a September 2017 notification which mandates students enrolling in LLM course to give an undertaking that they will not engage in any kind of practice or employment.
“The prohibition imposed upon the students denying them the right to put themselves through a Masters course in their ambitions of pursuing higher education is a palpable infringement of the inherent right granted in the Constitution,” the petition said.
He said that the restriction imposed was “exploitative” as students who needed to support themselves could not even work for an hour or so after college.