and several had in fact also been set up by the so-called father of NLSIU, Prof Madhava Menon).

Ram’s achievements are enviable; some glorified and celebrated, others understated. Perhaps the least recognised is his contribution in setting up the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore, India’s first five-year legal program for students after intermediate. NLSIU was a culmination of Ram’s friendship with RK Hegde, Karnataka’s Chief Minister. Ram had represented Hegde’s son Bharat when he was accused of corruption in a medical seat scam. Talking of his endeavour, Ram says, ‘I started National Law School because of Upendra Baxi. Upendra Baxi was supposed to be the first Director Designate of the University. And Upendra is a genius, everybody must acknowledge. We may have differences in viewpoint on some issues but otherwise, he is a genius.’ Ironically when the National Law School was inaugurated, Ram and his name were both missing. The school’s foundation stone had the names of VR Reddy, the Chairman of the Bar Council and Prof Madhav Menon. Ram’s name had been left out.

Certainly the National Law School began in Karnataka because of Ram's personal and political friendship with R.K. Hegde, which dated back to when they both worked together in the Janata Party. As Chief Minister, Hegde wanted the school as a feather in the state's cap as much as he wanted to help Ram. He also had a dream that Bangalore would become the artistic and intellectual capital of India. At the same time that he induced the National Law School to open in Bangalore, he also enticed the Indian Institute of Technology to start there. Karnataka was not the only state interested in the school either. The states of Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal were also early contenders, but Hegde had more to offer. Hegde directed Bangalore University to allocate 14 acres of land just outside of Bangalore for the law school, and he also obtained a temporary accommodation from Central College—the oldest college of Bangalore—so the law school could start functioning immediately. Hegde ensured that the state of Karnataka provided a grant of Rs 50 lakhs—about $200,000 US dollars—to be paid over five years, and it immediately gave the school a start-up sum of Rs 10 lakhs, about $40,000. The first students started in July 1988. The school moved into its permanent campus in 1990, and in 1991 it became a fully residential university. According to Ram's former junior, Jaisinghani, some money also may have come from some of Ram's rich clients as a donation in lieu of legal fees, but university sources do not remember such a gift. Hegde's most important contribution to forming the university was an act of the Karnataka State Legislature.Initially, Ram and Prof. Baxi thought their new creation would have to be a Deemed University. This means it is established by the Government of India without being affiliated with any pre-existing institution, an autonomous college that works like a university for the purposes of designing a curriculum, running courses, and awarding a degree. The problem was that when Prof. N.L. Mitra, Prof. Baxi and Ram met with Mr V.R. Reddy, the chairman of the Bar Council in 1986, they realized that this school's affiliation with Central College precluded it from being a Deemed University. Certainly Ram and the others did not want the law school to apply for Deemed status only to find out they could not get it. That meant they would need an act of the legislature to found an actual university. So, as it turned out, since the school could not become a college, it had to become a university. Karnataka had to pass a statute. Prof. Baxi drafted the proposed bill overnight with Ram, and at the instance of Hegde, it was passed as an ordinance the next day by the Karnataka government, even though the legislature was not in session. The legislature formally passed the National Law School of India University Act of 1986 in its next session, within six months of passing the ordinance. Thus the National Law School started out as a full university founded by a central or state government.
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The first director-designate of the new law school was Prof Upendra Baxi, but he declined, worried about who would pay the start-up and running expenses. The next professor approached was Prof. N.R. Madhava Menon, the secretary of the Bar Council Foundation at the time and a friend of Ram's. Ram and Reddy approached Menon, and he accepted the appointment as director of the pilot project. Though it is ironic, Ram was never present at the inauguration ceremony for the National Law School. Some say it was just because he no longer was an official of the Bar Council. The school's foundation stone was inscribed with the names of Mr Reddy, the chairman of the Bar Council at the time, and Prof. Menon. Ram was not mentioned. Menon told the Ford Foundation that he was the one who came back from a trip to America in 1984 with the idea of a five year model, and that he was the one who had lobbied various constituencies for support until the Bar Council decided to back his plan in 1985. He also told the Ford Foundation that when the position as director was first offered to Prof. Baxi, India's top legal scholar, Baxi had a number of concerns. He had been working on behalf of the Bhopal victims, and he was disgusted with the way the government was handling the matter. He found it troubling to be working directly under the auspices of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, who by law was the National Law School Chancellor. He also was worried about how the school could retain its independence, and he was reluctant to solicit funding from foreign donors. This is why he turned down the position. Menon told the Ford Foundation that he spent late 1986 and early 1987 recruiting top academics to his faculty. That was a matter with which Ram took issue. He had been very unhappy as he watched the faculty become regional in its representation, instead of being constituted through a nationwide or even international search for the best talent. At first there was a national advertisement for faculty. The first batch was selected by a committee composed of Dr Menon, Mr V.R. Reddy, Dr G.S. Sharma, a national academic figure, and two other experts. The committee recommended Prof. Mitra from West Bengal; Dr K.K. Puri from Queensland, Australia, and Dr M.P. Singh from Delhi for the posts of professors. They also recommended Mr Balanchandran from Kerala as associate professor; Dr Jaigovind, originally from Karnataka but recently returned from Nigeria and Mr V.S. Mallar from Goa as senior assistant professors. The assistant professors were Mr Vijay Kumar from Tamil Nadu, Mr N.S. Gopalakrishnan from Kerala (a revenue officer and economist educated in Harvard university), and Mr Joga Rao from Andhra Pradesh. Further additions were added in stages, but by now there was no advertisement or selection committee similar to the original one. At this stage, new faculty was more often added on the basis of acquaintanceships. Ram was now vocal about his concerns. New professors were almost entirely from Kerala or Karnataka. Ram urged the executive committee to only make appointments on a national level through advertisements.