The Karnataka High Court ruled on August 5 that Industrial Training Institute (ITI) courses would, like Pre University Course, grant eligibility for an LLB degree if another degree, such as BCom or BA, had also been obtained, despite the listed language requirement.
The petitioner completed an ITI course in 2015, and after completing a BA programme, applied for the LLB course at Karnataka State Law University. His application to Karnataka State Law University and other varsities was rejected, as according to a March 2025 government notification, students need to complete a language subject under the ITI.
The petitioner’s counsel said that, according to a prior case, having an additional degree pursued after the ITI course would be enough to make a person eligible to pursue an LLB course.
Justice Suraj Govindaraj of the Dharwad Bench agreed with this conclusion, and said, “In Rakesh Shetty’s case…. this Court has come to a categorical conclusion that, once a degree has been obtained, the said degree would be the qualifying course for being enrolled in the LLB course. The candidate having been held to be eligible for a degree course on the basis of ITI/diploma which had been obtained by the said candidate, the University or any college affiliated to the University cannot deny admission of the student to the LLB course on the basis of the fact that instead of PUC, the candidate had secured an ITI course.”
Justice Govindaraj added that as the notification itself was not challenged in this case, the matter would have to be dealt with in another case. However, it cautioned that while it was required that a language be studied under ITI, the ITI courses themselves do not offer a language as a subject.
The bench stated, ” …in ITI course, a language is not part of the curriculum, the question of imposing a condition that the student should have studied a language in the ITI course, which is not part of the curriculum, is completely devoid of merit and indicates the nonapplication of mind….. Respondent No.1 (State of Karnataka) would, therefore, have to have a relook at this and consider the ground realities.”
The Karnataka High Court also directed an eligibility certificate to be issued to the petitioner for admission into a three-year law course.