MUMBAI: After days of uncertainty that left thousands of law aspirants on edge, Thursday brought three significant developments that could ease the admission crisis in Maharashtra.The Government Law College (GLC), Mumbai, finally received approval from the Bar Council of India (BCI) and is expected to be added to the State CET Cell’s admission portal on Friday.An additional 18-odd colleges also received the BCI nod and will get added to the list, thus taking the total count of available colleges to 120, said sources.Second, the Bombay High Court on Thursday morning extended the deadline for filling the college option form to August 9 for the three-year LLB programme and for the five-year integrated law course giving students additional time to exercise their preferences.Most importantly, on Thursday evening, in a move that could fundamentally change this year’s admission process, the CET Cell has proposed to the state government that students be allowed to continue participating in subsequent CAP rounds even if they are allotted their first-preference college.It has also recommended that candidates be permitted to submit a fresh option form before every admission round, allowing them to revise their college preferences as more institutions receive approvals.“We have sent our proposal to the state government and are awaiting its approval. Once it comes through, students will no longer be forced to accept admission simply because they have been allotted the college they marked as their first preference: they can either choose it or reject it, which was not allowed earlier. So, if they reject the first choice of college allotted to them, they will be allowed to continue participating in subsequent CAP rounds,” State CET Cell Commissioner Dileep Sardesai told TOI.“This admission season is unlike any other. We understand the anxiety students are going through because of the delayed approvals, which is why we have proposed these changes. We have also suggested that students be allowed to submit a fresh college option form before every CAP round so that they can revise their preferences as more colleges receive approvals,” he added.Admission experts say such a relaxation would be in the interest of fairness. The current preference list, they point out, was prepared without several prominent colleges in contention. Allowing students to revise their options once the list of participating institutions is finalised would ensure that admissions reflect genuine student preferences rather than administrative delays.Data available with the Directorate of Higher Education (DHE) as on August 5 showed that only 102 colleges offering the three-year LLB programme, with an intake of 10,105 seats, and 66 colleges offering the five-year integrated LLB programme, with 5,955 seats, have been cleared for the first round. This is against nearly 54,000 applicants for the three-year course and 20,000 applicants for the five-year programme, drastically shrinking the options available to students.GRAPHICImportant 3 developments as on Thursday:1. GLC and 18 other colleges receive approval from the BCI and will be added to the option list by Friday2. Bombay High Court extend the option filling process (selection of colleges) for law programmes3. State CET Cell sends a proposal to the state govt to alter admission norms: No mandatory auto-freeze if the first choice of college is allotted and allow candidates to fill fresh college option form with their preferences before every round.
