New Delhi, Jan. 28: The Supreme Court today stayed an Orissa High Court order, which had held that the Bar Council of India had no power to de-recognise private law colleges that did not meet the standards and quality framed by the regulatory body for streamlining the legal education system across the country.

A bench of justices R.M. Lodha and J. Chelameshwar stayed the high court order and sought response of the Odisha Bar Council and the petitioner.

Appearing for the Bar Council of India, senior counsel Abhisekh Manu Singhvi and M.N. Krishnamani told the court that the council, as a regulatory body setting standards for legal education in the country, had de-recognised 48 colleges in the state because the colleges had failed to meet the norms and requirements set up by the council for imparting legal education.

In 2011, the Bar Council of India had also asked the State Bar Council not to enrol candidates from such un-registered law colleges. The petitioner, a student of one of the de-recognised colleges, had approached the Orissa High Court challenging the refusal of the State Bar Council to enrol him.

The apex court issued notices to the respondents and posted the matter for further hearing after 10 weeks.