Bar Council of India Orders Closure of Gautam Buddha University’s Weekend LLM Course: Fees Refunded for 40 Students

The University of Gautam Buddha (GBU), Greater Noida has discontinued its two-year weekend LLM course after the order issued by the Bar Council of India (BCI). In the current academic session, there were 40 students enrolled in the program. After the orders by BCI stating that the weekend course is impractical, however, the university administration has returned the fees of all the students that are enrolled in the course to alleviate their inconvenience.

According to the statement made by the Dean of GBU School of Law, Dr. K.K. Dwivedi, BCI has decided to cancel the course on May 25, 2025. By this time, the 40 seats had been occupied and therefore GBU consulted and voted to give back the entire fees to the affected students.

The BCI in its communication states that the purpose of the closure of the weekend LLM course is in relation to the quality and integrity of legal consumption and preserving the integrity of the legal profession in India.

In the past, GBU had launched the two-year LLM program of 30 seats that was raised to 40 seats in this session. The university has completely abolished the program of weekend LLM courses with the directive of the BCI.

Those students who joined the last academic year will be given an opportunity to pursue their course based on the current curriculum.

This ruling affects the aspirants who had anticipated to undertake their LLM program on weekends, which means that the BCI is highly concerned with the regulation and improvement of the quality of legal education in India.