GLC Mumbai's Expired Approval Puts Maharashtra Law Admissions in Limbo: Inside the CAP Rule Trapping Students

BCI Order Directing Universities for Comprehensive, Physical Inspection

Law colleges in India are required to obtain approval from the Bar Council of India. However, the approval of over 100 law colleges in Maharashtra has expired ahead of the 2026-27 admission cycle.

On 23rd July, the BCI issued a circular directing all universities imparting legal education to conduct immediate nationwide inspection of all law colleges and their compliance with the Rules of Legal Education, 2008. The BCI has asked affiliating universities to submit the inspection reports within six weeks.

This was followed by another directive from the Department of Higher Education (DHE), Maharashtra, asking law colleges to obtain approval before participating in MH CET Law 2026.

Why GLC Matters and Wider Implications

The CET Cell has started the choice filling for both 5-year and 3-year LLB admissions. Students are required to choose law colleges in order of preference. GLC remains the most preferred law college, drawing thousands of students in the MH CET Law. GLC admission cutoffs typically reach around the 99th percentile.

The law college is considered a close competitor for tier 2 NLUs due to its location, alumni network and vast off-campus career opportunities. Its absence from the state law admission means several students have to restart their college search at a time when NLUs and several tier 1 law schools are closing their admissions for this year.

As a spillover effect, ILS Pune, which competes with GLC in MH CET law, will witness a higher demand this year. It remains the second most preferred law college among Maharashtra law aspirants. As a result, it may see higher admission cutoffs this year.

Other popular law colleges excluded from MH CET Law 2026 include Pravin Gandhi Law College, Siddharth Law College, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar College of Law and New Law College.

While the CET Cell said that they will add more colleges in the subsequent rounds of counselling, the non-inclusion of GLC and these colleges changes the admission dynamics significantly, as the students adjust their college preferences.

The Allotment Rules and Risk of Losing GLC & Top Law Colleges

The current allotment rules require the students to exercise the web options using the list of currently approved colleges. These web options will be considered for the initial two rounds of allotments. Fresh options will be invited in the third round.

As per the CAP rules, if a student is allotted a seat of first preference, the allotment will be auto-frozen, making them ineligible for participation in the subsequent CAP rounds.

In this case, GLC’s absence creates a preference dilemma. Students eying for GLC Mumbai or any other top law college with a 100th percentile may get seats in less preferred law colleges and become ineligible for participation in subsequent rounds when other colleges are approved for admitting students.

The CET Cell has advised the students to regularly visit the CAP Portal for newly added colleges and fill out the option form for subsequent rounds. However, this advisory doesn't address the key concern: if GLC or other law institutions receive approval and are added in the late stages of counselling, will candidates who have already been allotted seats in initial rounds be allowed to compete for these colleges?