Law Schools

Exclusive: Dismissed NLSIU Bangalore faculty member Sidharth Chauhan is currently in talks to join Nalsar Hyderabad in June for the start of the next academic session.

ILS Pune’s class of 2012 has reportedly seen only 20 placements so far for 105 total students, reported the Indian Express. The 131-strong batch of 2011 apparently secured 60 jobs, plummeting from 2008's 100% result.

Veteran ILS campus placements-visitor ONGC allegedly complained of a decline in students’ standards.

Principal Vaijayanti Joshi blames it on lack of the college’s autonomy and funds (being affiliated to Pune University), while students say it is due to lack of infrastructure and “exposure” when compared with the national law universities. [Express]

The law college was one of the five law schools felicitated by the Bar Council of India last month in its golden jubilee celebrations, for “outstanding contribution to legal education”, as first reported by Legally India.

In July 2012 Legally India reported on difficulties faced by several law schools to attract recruiters, amidst increased competition and a slowing economy.

Nalsar Hyderabad has turned a new leaf on the dramatic events of last year that culminated in the resignation of its then-vice chancellor (VC). An investigation by the Andhra Pradesh bar council has now exonerated senior faculty members who were alleged to have enjoyed financial and administrative privileges under the previous administration, while the controversial post of dean of academic affairs has been abolished, and Prof Vijender Kumar has been appointed as registrar.

NLSIU Bangalore’s registrar of four years Prof V Nagaraj was today appointed as the new vice-chancellor (VC) of NLU Orissa (NLUO) Cuttack.

NLSIU Bangalore alum Sidharth Chauhan, who was dismissed from his temporary faculty position at the law school last month, wrote an open letter to the NLSIU community on Friday alleging that his dismissal was “a warning meant to discourage other members of the faculty and administrative staff from asking difficult questions”.

Exclusive: NLU Orissa (NLUO) Cuttack has whittled down the final shortlist of candidates from which it will select the university’s next vice-chancellor (VC), two months after outgoing VC Chandra Krishnamurthy resigned.

Breaking: Nalsar Hyderabad yesterday agreed on the final course structure for the first one-year LLM degree in India, which was in principle approved by the University Grants Commission in September 2012 after long delays.

The High Court of Gujarat on Friday reversed most of its October 2012 decision that had favoured five GNLU Gandhinagar students who were forced to repeat a year at the university, however, it agreed with the earlier ruling that unexplained “goodness marks” required by the university to pass a year were illegal.

Exclusive: The High Court (HC) of Delhi today said that the Supreme Court’s public information officer (PIO) could not refuse to disclose the SC’s judicial clerks’ selection procedure under a Right to Information (RTI) request because there was a pending writ that challenged the same procedure.

ILS Law College Pune, Bharti Vidyapeeth Deemed University New Law College Pune, Symbiosis Law School Pune, KLE Bangalore, and NLSIU Bangalore were felicitated by the Bar Council of India (BCI) on 16 February as "outstanding" law colleges in India.

The BCI’s chairman Manan Kumar Mishra felicitated the colleges in his inaugural speech at the centenary celebrations of the regulator held on 16 and 17 February at Vigyan Bhawan, Delhi.

ILS Pune principal Vaijayanti Joshi, who is also secretary to the Indian Law Society, told Legally India that the felicitation was “in special recognition of their outstanding services to legal education”.

Joshi said: “The [BCI] chairman in his address to the Prime Minister and Chief Justice of India on the dias at Vigyan Bhavan, said that in addition to NLS Bangalore, there are other institutes which have done well, out of the 900 law colleges in India.”

She confirmed that to the best of her knowledge, this was the first time the BCI had given such awards. [Picture of Joshi with BCI trophy]

A person close to the BCI confirmed the shortlist and explained that it was decided by the chairman and the legal education committee after taking into account the colleges' performance over the past few years.

Mishra did not return calls for comment.

Update: Mishra, commenting to Bar & Bench on 21 February, said that Amity Law School Delhi had also been facilitated, and that 15 further private colleges would receive awards in the coming year.  "“It is the decision of the BCI based on the performances of the colleges," he said. “Some of the national law schools are doing well. National law schools get huge impetus from the state government. So apart from these, we have felicitated some private institutions which have been contributing to legal education 

MS University Vadodara’s law faculty head was arrested for obstructing a public servant on duty and causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means, after he allegedly smeared itching powder on the vice chancellor’s (VC) chair.

The incident was speculated to be an act of revenge by the faculty head – Ghanshyam Solanki - after his promotion application was rejected.

The head reportedly confessed to using the itching powder but claimed that it was not meant for the VC, Yogesh Singh, but that his real target was professor SS Bhattacharya who is the faculty in charge of the law department [TOI]

Exclusive: NLSIU Bangalore has launched a host of new construction in its academic block, hostels, and basketball courts while NLU Delhi has decided to renegotiate the pay of its foreign-educated faculty, after both law schools were sanctioned close to Rs 8 crore by the University Grants Commission (UGC) in November 2012.

A similar grant was also extended by the UGC to the other 12 national law schools (NLU) late last year under the eleventh five-year plan, after their vice chancellors (VC) lobbied aggressively against excluding the law schools from central funding.

NLUO Cuttack in Orissa has invited applications for the post of its vice-chancellor (VC), having constituted a committee to select the new VC three days after outgoing VC Chandra Krishnamurthy’s last day on campus.

Breaking & exclusive: NLSIU Bangalore faculty and alumnus Sidharth Chauhan was yesterday dismissed from service, little over a month after he wrote to vice-chancellor (VC) R Venkata Rao criticising his non-consultative manner of imposing a 9pm ban on opening the law school gates.

Exclusive: NLUO Cuttack has not yet formed a committee to appoint its new vice-chancellor (VC), one month after outgoing VC Chandra Krishnamurthy resigned to take up a position as VC of the Pondicherry University.

The High Court of Delhi today asked the Supreme Court to explain why it has only allowed national law university graduates and graduates from universities “approved” by the Supreme Court to apply for the annual law-clerk openings in the court.