Now, private law universities will not be able to use words like "India", "Indian", "National", "Bharat", "Bhartiya" and "Rashtriya" when organising law-related events like conferences, moot courts and so on.

This was made clear via a circular by Bar Council of India (BCI) dated, Tuesday, October 15.

"The use of 'National', 'India', 'Indian', 'Bharat', 'Bharatiya', or 'Rashtriya' in the title of an event gives it an appearance of representing the entire nation. Only statutory bodies like the BCI and institutions such as National Law Universities or government affiliated Departments of Law, which have a national mandate, can be said to have the legal standing to host such events," the BCI stated, as per a report by Bar and Bench.

These events, called "National Moot Courts" or "All India Moot Court Competitions", are often misleading. Moreover, the institutes do not have the statutory authority or government approval to use these terms.

"Moreover, the unauthorized use of these names has been observed to be misused for securing sponsorships, further exploiting the misunderstanding that such events hold official national status," it further noted.

Continuing to use these terms might result in revocation of recognition or approval by BCI, legal action, disqualification from conducting events of such a nature or withdrawal of privileges extended by BCI.

The National Law Universities (NLUs) and government institutions can continue to use terms like "National" if the event is of such a nature.