REPORT OF
THE SCHOOL REVIEW COMMISSION
(2007-2008)
on
THE NATIONAL LAW SCHOOL OF INDIA UNIVERSITY,
BANGALORE
I.

INTRODUCTION
A Three-member Commission, called the School Review Commission

(SRC), was constituted by the Chief Justice of India in his capacity as Chancellor
of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) under Section 14 of the
National Law School of India Act (Karnataka Act No. 22 of 1986), as amended by
Act 3 of 1993 and Act 15 of 2004. The provisions of this Section stipulate:
(1) The Chancellor shall at least once in every five years constitute a
commission to review the working of the School and to make
recommendations.
(2) The commission shall consist of not less than three eminent
educationists, one of whom shall be the chairman of such
commission appointed by the Chancellor in consultation with the
State Government.
(3) The terms and conditions of the appointment of the members shall
be such as the Chancellor may determine.
(4) The commission shall after holding such enquiry as it deems fit,
make its recommendation to the Chancellor.
(5) The Chancellor may take such action on the recommendations as
he deems fit.

The commission was chaired by Hon’ble Mr. Justice K.T. Thomas, former
Judge of the Supreme Court of India. The other two members of the commission
were Professor (Dr.) Virendra Kumar, former Chairman of Department of Laws,

 2
Dean, Faculty of Law, and UGC Emeritus Fellow, Panjab University, Chandigarh,
and Professor (Dr.) M.P. Singh, Vice-Chancellor of W.B. National University of
Juridical Sciences, Kolkata. The Registrar of the NLSIU, was commissioned as a
non-member to coordinate the functioning of the SRC.

The preliminary meeting to proceed with planning of the SRC was held at
Bangalore on October 4, 2007. In that meeting the Chairman of the Commission
Mr. Justice Thomas invited Dr. A. Jayagovind and Dr. V. Vijayakumar, the ViceChancellor and the then Registrar of the NLSIU respectively, to apprise him
about the progress and development of the NLSIU hitherto made as reflected in
the reports submitted by the Commissions hitherto appointed in terms of Section
14 of the said Act of 1986. That would have facilitated the task of the Chairman
to spell out the course of action of the present Commission on predictable lines.

In the absence of any such reports, however, the SRC was prompted to
charter its own course independently for reviewing the functioning of the NLSIU.
In its own wisdom, the SRC, for collecting the requisite information, wished to
interact both severally and jointly with all those available persons, who were
associated with NLSIU since its inception in one capacity or the other. In this
respect, the commission decided to focus its concerns principally on three
counts: (i) the vision of the persons at the time of their joining the NLSIU; (ii) the
extent of realization of that vision; and (iii) the bottlenecks they experienced or
encountered in fulfilling that vision.

II.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Besides the preliminary meeting held by the Chairman in Bangalore on
October 4, 2007, the SRC had met eight times in Bangalore at the Conference
Hall of the NLSIU – on January 3 and 4, 2008, April 15 and 16, 2008, August 5
and 6, 2008, and December 16 and 17, 2008. The first six meetings were
devoted almost exclusively to study the state of affairs of the NLSIU both through

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direct dialogue and indirect interaction by way of written statements with diverse
segments of the school society. The interactive face-to-face dialogue invariably
extended from 9.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. with a lunch break of about one hour in
between. The last meeting was used for reflecting upon the inputs from various
sources and then finalizing the recommendations of the SRC for the
consideration of the Chief Justice of India in his capacity as Chancellor of the
NLSIU.

The SRC had the opportunity to meet and elicit the requisite information
from the Vice-Chancellor, Registrar, members of teaching faculty individually as
well as collectively (including the senior and the younger ones), wardens of both
boys’ and girls’ hostels, various groups of students, including the representatives
of Student Bar Association and some of the alumni who were locally available,
non-teaching functionaries, including the Librarian, Finance Officer, Estate
Officer and the Secretary to Registrar-cum-Examination Officer.

Views of some other significant persons who had the proximity with the
NLSIU in any position or capacity either formally or informally were also
ascertained. In this respect, the SRC was enriched by the views of Justice Y.K.
Sabharwal, the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, Justice V.S.
Malimath, former Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka and Kerala,
Professor N.R. Madhava Menon, former Director of the NLSIU and presently the
member of Commission on Centre-State Relations, Government of India, and Mr.
P.P. Rao, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India.

Apart from the above, any other interested person who desired to express
one’s own views for furthering the cause of the NLSIU was also encouraged by
the SRC to come forward. In this wise, the Commission received the responses
in writing of some of the alumni who were located outside India. All in all, the
SRC is happy to record that it has received overwhelming responses from all
segments of society, who are either associated with the NLSIU or concerned with

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the state of legal education in India. The keen interest shown by the students of
law school, both past and present, to make the NLSIU a vibrant centre of legal
education catering to the needs of the society at large, and not just of the elites,
was remarkably of a very high order.

III.

PHASE OF EXPLORATION AND ACCOMPLISHMENT

The NLSIU at Bangalore was established by the Government of
Karnataka under the NLSIU of India Act (Karnataka Act No. 22 of 1986). This
initiative was taken by the State at the instance of the Bar Council of India (BCI)
through its public and charitable trust, known as the BCI Trust. The avowed
objective of the BCI Trust includes the establishment, maintenance and running
of a model law college in India. For carrying out this objective, the BCI Trust has
opened a branch office at Bangalore and registered a society, named and styled
as the NLSIU of India Society under the Karnataka Society Registration Act,
1960 (Karnataka Act No. 17 of 1960).

To manage the affairs of the NLSIU, rules were framed by the said society
providing for the constitution of different authorities and other matters relating to
the school.

As a sequel to those rules, the NLSIU came to be established

eventually by the State Government of Karnataka under the said Act of 1986.
Under Section 3 of the Act, as amended, the NLSIU shall consist of the ViceChancellor, the Executive Council, the Academic Council, and the Registrar.

Dr. N.R. Madhava Menon, an acclaimed scholar in the realm of law, was
appointed as the founding Director (later designated as Vice-Chancellor) of the
NLSIU.

The first batch of students selected on the basis of open national

entrance test was admitted in 1988. The law school started from scratch with a
faculty of three-four teachers and hardly with any infrastructural facilities, and that
too with very modest funding.

However, within a short span of less than a

decade, the NLSIU was able to establish itself as a centre of excellence in

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pursuit of legal education.

Gradually, it became fully residential university,

having its own exclusive compact campus, accommodating boys and girls in
separate hostels, called the Men’s and Women’s Halls of Residence, teaching
and non-teaching members in separately built staff and faculty quarters. It has
the enhanced facility of computers both for the students and the faculty, and
since 1997 the Local Area Network that connected the NLSIU with outside
computer world.

The NLSIU, inter alia, had set the objective, as formally enunciated in
Section 4 of the Act of 1986, “to advance and disseminate learning and
knowledge of law and legal processes and their role in national development, to
develop in the student and research scholar a sense of responsibility to serve
society in the field of law by developing skills in regard to advocacy, legal
services, legislation, law reforms and the like, to organize lectures, seminars,
symposia and conferences to promote legal knowledge and to make law and
legal processes efficient instruments of social development, to hold examinations
and confer degrees and other academic distinctions and to do all such things as
are incidental, necessary or conducive to the attainment of all or any of the
objects of the School.”

The NLSIU started with a humble beginning and without any fan fair.
But in due course of time, despite lack of infrastructural facilities, paucity of
funds, and only with fewer faculty members, it made great strides. Within a
relatively short period of less than a decade, it established itself as the leading
law school with its own distinct flavour. Through its own innovative progressive
curriculum and unique pedagogy, it came to be acknowledged as a new trend
setter for imparting legal education in India.

The success story of the NLSIU soon led to the emergence of other
national law schools on similar lines in different parts of India, mostly enjoying the
patronage of their respective State governments.

All such schools readily

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replicated the course structure and other modules developed by the Bangalore
national law school.

The success story, making the NLSIU as the centre for excellence in the
realm of legal education, could be woven around certain characteristic features.
Those features have emerged in the course of interaction with the faculty
members

who

themselves

developmental process.

were

participant

observers

in

the

whole

However, for the purpose of functional clarity, the

various features could be classified as under.

(a) Initiation of interdisciplinary approach to the study of law
This indeed was the bold experiment.

It instantly encouraged the

teachers, on the one hand, to design and re-design new and innovative
courses as per the emerging needs of the globalized world. On the
other hand, this also obligated them to prepare a commensurate
teaching plan requiring a rigorous teaching schedule. Such a teaching
plan, for instance, commanded the teachers not only to come up
periodically with new teaching materials, but to put in alongside about
12 to 16 hours per week in the class-room teaching alone.

The

teaching plan also entailed the preparation of periodic project reports in
different

subjects

or

courses

taught

with

a

multi-disciplinary

perspective.

(b) Evolution of cooperative work culture
With the introduction of inter-disciplinary approach to the study of law,
out of necessity, there evolved, what is termed as, cooperative work
culture.

It seemed to create its own rhythm of academic inter-

dependence both in the creation of requisite teaching material and
evaluation by two or more teachers of the project reports presented by
the students. Such a work-environment inevitably created a unique
opportunity of learning amongst the colleagues from each other.

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(c) Augmentation of academic inputs
This was done by providing academic exposure to the teaching faculty
periodically through the adoption of the following such measures as:
(i) Organization of regional, national, and international seminars
on diverse themes.
(ii) Holding Special Lectures by invitees, including distinguished
judges, jurists and lawyers of standing.
(iii) Creation of Chairs.

(d) Manifestation of academic outputs
Acting on the sagacious statement that ‘research and teaching go
hand-in-hand,’ or

‘research

and teaching

are

inseparable,’

a

‘compelling opportunity’ was created for the teachers to contribute to
their home-grown publications. Such outlets included –
(i)

NLSIU Newsletters, and specific subject Newsletters

(ii)

March of the Law

(iii) NLSIU Journal
(iv) Gender Justice Reporter
(v)

Journal of Law and Medicine

(vi) Health Care: Policy, Ethics and Law
(vii) Indian Journal of Environmental Law

Apart from these publications making space for spontaneous research
contributions on diverse themes, a tradition of writing text books also
came into vogue. The faculty members, either singly or jointly, wrote
or compiled several books (admirably listed in the NLSIU Prospectus
2008 at page 81) that must have served as indispensable tools of
classroom teaching. Besides, in order to make the class-room teaching
more effective, the faculty has also taken the initiative to bring out the

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publication of Lectures in the subjects of Business Law, Medical Law
and Ethics, and Intellectual Property Rights Law.

(e) Well-equipped library
The Library of the NLSIU is considered one of the best libraries in the
country in terms of collection and services rendered by it to its multiple
users, including students, research scholars, faculty and the ones who
are enrolled as students of distant education.

It subscribes 150

Journals in print and more than 1000 on-line-journals.

The library

remains open from 8.30 a.m. to 12 midnight, and it is manned by one
Chief Librarian, 2 Senior Professional Assistants, 1 Junior Professional
Assistant, and 5 non-professional Attendants.

(f) Discipline – the hallmark of progress
In the system of formal education, involving the imparting of
instructions through structured courses, culminating in the conferring of
degrees and other academic distinctions after holding written and oral
examinations within a strictly defined schedule, the element of
discipline is highly desiderated.

Through discursive dialogue and

discussion, the SRC was happy to learn that all the persons –
teachers, students and the administrative staff – worked in unison as a
perfect disciplined force till about the year 2001-2002. The schedule of
work was laid down with meticulous details. The classes were held
with extreme punctuality. At the stroke of bell, the teacher would walk
into the class. The Director was always on his toes. If for any reason,
any teacher was late, say by more than ten minutes, his slot was
instantly filled in by the Director himself.

Such was the premium

placed on punctuality. Likewise, all the courses were covered on time
and the schedule of examinations was worked out much before the
commencement of examinations. All this inculcated an acute sense of
discipline that became the hallmark of the life of the NLSIU.

It

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percolated in all the activities of the school, be it completion of courses
within the stipulated time-period; holding of mid-term or end-term
examinations; project evaluations; conducting viva voce; or declaration
of results.

The striking impact of the whole endeavour was that the discipline of law
started attracting bright students from all over India. Legal education was put on
sound footing in a systematic and integrative manner. Through the development
of its own distinct work-culture and rigorous training-regime, the NLSIU started
producing its own ‘stamped product’, which opened new opportunities for the law
emerging graduates in leading law firms and the corporate world.

IV.

PHASE OF DIMINUTION

The NLSIU, as stated earlier, had established itself as centre for
excellence within a short span of less than ten years after its inauguration in
1988. It set up its own standards of supremacy.

By virtue of its merit and

traditional inertia, the NLSIU is still rated as Number One amongst the top 15
Law Colleges in India. This ranking is reported to have been done on the basis
of its record in terms of placements, faculty competence, infrastructure, and
pedagogic systems (see, Outlook, “India’s Top Professional Colleges,” June 2430, 2008, at page 37).

However, this ranking has slipped to Number Two

position during the current year according to India Today.

Despite the relative top position of the NLSIU, a certain degree of gradual
diminution has started creeping in during the past ten years or so. The decline is
in relation to its own high standard that the NLSIU had set in for itself. Such a
change, as perceived by the SRC through interaction with cross-section of
society having proximity with the school, seemed evident when the responsibility
of academic and administrative functioning of the NLSIU passed on from the
founding members to the next generation of builders of the school. To a certain

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extent, the sliding down is not quite unusual, because in the phase of transition
from the formative stage to the stage of established pattern there is invariably a
void of various rules and regulations. It is somewhat ironic to state that the
existence of pre-determined rules and regulations might be an impediment during
the formative period of an institution, but the existence of the same is considered
absolutely necessary when the high standards of an established pattern of an
institution are to be maintained.

Drawing the detailed rules and regulations,

indeed, is an integral part of the process of institutionalization, which has hitherto
not taken place unfortunately. In the absence of those rules and regulations, the
working of the NLSIU has fallen into disarray. In certain respects, the existing
regulations, particularly the ones that relate to the constitution of the principal
bodies, namely the General Council and the Executive Council, might have
served the desired objective during the formative period of the school, but the
same may require a second look in the significantly changed scenario.

The following discrepancies have come to the attention of the SRC on the
academic and administrative sides:

(a) Mismatch allocation of teaching subjects/courses
Some teachers, especially amongst the younger members of the
faculty, have been assigned courses to teach in which they hardly had
any prior requisite in-depth exposure. In any eventuality, if a teacher
has agreed to teach a particular course in which he had no prior
comprehension, then it is incumbent upon him to prepare himself fully
to meet the challenge.

(b) Drastic reduction in teaching load
Workload of class-room teaching has been reduced from 14-16 hours
to 4-6 hours per week for all.

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(c) Inequitable distribution of teaching work
Some members of the faculty have been assigned three compulsory
courses in all the tri-semester courses, whereas the work-load in
certain other cases is reduced by assigning only one optional course
and a seminar, and that too with the ‘privilege’ of compressing the
teaching schedule just to three days instead of spreading over to five
to six days a week.

(d) Laxity in class-room teaching
Cancellation of the scheduled class owing to the non-availability of the
teacher concerned at the last moment has become rather a common
practice. Students often find it difficult to meet teachers as they are
absent/not available without prior intimation.

(e) No updating of teaching material
The healthy practice of updating the course material and presenting
the same periodically before a panel of senior faculty members or
outside experts has become amiss. The Academic Committee, which
used to meet to discuss syllabi for each trimester has not been
constituted for several years now. Teaching of courses has become a
matter of whims and fancies of each teacher. The other prompting to
update was that all subject teachers were required to prepare a review
of the Supreme Court decisions in their subject for a calendar year and
submit the same by the end of March to be published in March of the
Law. Even this practice was abandoned.

(f) Absence of close supervision of classroom teaching
The tradition of senior faculty members sitting in the classes taken by
relatively inexperienced teachers with a view to guiding them by

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providing concrete suggestions has vanished. And with this an
opportunity of learning quickly by doing is lost to a large extent.

(g) Research output of the faculty has become virtually nil
Academic rigour and engaging in serious research pursuit is on
decline. This has led to the extinction of March of the Law and NLSIU
Journal. In fact, both these publications provided stimulus to research
and teaching. It is a pity to learn that the publication of March of the
Law was stopped after 1992, whereas NLSIU Journal did not see the
light of the day after 1998-99.

(h) Remunerative assignments outside the NLSIU
Acceptance of paid assignments outside the NLSIU, either in the form
of delivering paid lectures in the local law colleges or taking up
remunerative consultation work somewhat on regular basis, seems to
have gained priority in case of certain members of the faculty. This
seriously undermines their basic commitment to the institution to which
they principally belong.

(i) Indifference to plagiarism in project reports
The teachers are often ignorant and mostly indifferent to the menace of
plagiarism in the project reports submitted by the students. The rigour
of the exercise involved is reduced to nullity if the re-cycled project
reports are accepted by the teachers without questioning.

(j) Indiscriminate academic appointments
The pivotal appointments on the academic side, say, to the post of
Adjunct Professor carrying the honorarium of Rs. 35,000 per month,
are being made from amongst the non-academic persons, like the
retired District Judges with no prior academic contribution. This

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amounts to dolling out favours amongst the undeserved ones, and
thereby diluting the academic standards.

(k) Absence of formal control mechanism
There seems to be a void of stirring and determined management to
evaluate teachers and their working.

The Vice-Chancellor stated

candidly, albeit with dismay, that the ‘full freedom’ that was granted to
faculty members to grow academically proved counter productive:
“Faculty are neither improving their research nor they
are interested in the betterment of the institution.
There is no coordination among them.

It is highly

impossible to get the work done by the faculty
members.

There is no sincerity and commitment

among them which was existing during the first
director’s regime.”

In the educational set up, if discipline in the life of a teacher is missing
from within, and there is no enforcement of discipline from without, the
quality of teaching is affected and rigour of examination is diluted. As a
sequel, the murmur of arbitrariness in evaluation work is heard, for
instance. Sanctity of examinations is marred with too many repeat
examinations, is another offshoot of indiscipline.

The overall emerging picture on the basis of totality of circumstances
reveals that there is drastic decline in discipline and dilution of academic
standard. The rigorous work culture and singular commitment, which used to be
the hallmark of the NLSIU during the first decade of its existence, is on the wane.
Despite the fact that the NLSIU still continues to hold the premier position
amongst the law schools in India, the common entrenched feeling that the SRC
has gathered from diverse sources is that of extreme ‘dissatisfaction’: the level of
functioning of the NLSIU is now far from expectation.

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V.

WHAT SHOULD BE DONE?

During the course of interaction with the members of the faculty, students,
administrative staff and other significant persons at different levels, the SRC tried
to ascertain the views and elicit suggestions, which could concretely help to
stimulate and energize the NLSIU. All such views and suggestions can be
crystallized into two broad categories of ‘structural’ and ‘non-structural’ changes.

A. STRUCTURAL CHANGES

The provisions of the NLSIU of India Act (Karnataka Act No. 22 of 1986),
as originally conceived, served a very useful purpose during the formative period
of the NLSIU. Over a period of time, its complexion has undergone a change. It
has established its own identity as an independent centre for academic
excellence both nationally and internationally. In fact, the institution has now truly
become the National Law School of India University, both de facto and de jure.
Hitherto, two amendments have been brought in 1993 and 2004. But neither of
them is substantive in character.
The Amendment Act 3 of 19931 is expository inasmuch as it merely
describes the General Council, envisaged under Section 9 of the Act of 1986, as
the “chief advisory body” of the school instead of treating it as the “supreme
authority” of the school. This change was necessitated because the role of the
General Council is essentially advisory in nature. The Amending Act 15 of 2004
also does not effect any substantive change in the provisions of the Act of 1986.
It only changes the nomenclature of the post of ‘Director’ and ‘Visitor’ as ‘ViceChancellor’ and ‘Chancellor’ respectively to be on a par with other Universities in

1

The Amendment Act 3 of 1993 replaced the NLSIU of India (Amendment) Ordinance, 1992. This
amendment, which is stated to be in pursuance of the suggestion made by the University Grants
Commission, also led to modify the powers of the General Council suitably.

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the country. However, for its further progress and development, the NLSIU is in
need of certain structural changes by amending the Act of 1986.

We recommend the following changes in the Act:

(a)

Reference to “Bar Council of India Trust” in Section 2(3) of the
Act of 1986 read with Regulations 2(1)(c) and (h), 7(1)(c) and (h)
shall be omitted.
In terms of financial standing, the NLSIU is in a position to generate
its own resources. It is no more dependant upon the Bar Council of
India Trust (a public and charitable trust) created by the Bar Council
of India. The Finance Officer stated before the SRC that finances of
the University are “reasonably sound” and “break even.” The BCI
Trust for the purposes of maintaining and sustaining the NLSIU has,
therefore, fallen into disuse.

As a sequel, any reference to

nominations made by the BCI Trust to the Executive Council under
clauses (c) and (h) of Regulation 7 (1) has become redundant and
hence requires amendment.

(b) Reference to “Society” in Section 2(12) of the Act of 1986 read
with Regulation 7(d) shall be omitted
The necessary rules to manage the NLSIU, with powers to confer
degrees, diplomas, etc. were framed by a registered society, known
as the NLSIU of India Society – a society which itself was created by
the Bar Council of India Trust to carry out the objective of the Bar
Council of India, namely the promotion of legal education. Once
those rules were incorporated in the provisions of the Act of 1986 and
the appended regulations, the “society” has become defunct for all
intents and purposes, and, therefore any more reference to it or to its
nominations shall be amended as indicated below.

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(c)

Re-constitution of the Executive Council
Regulation 7 deals with the membership of the Executive Council.
Under sub-clause (c) of clause (1) of this Regulation, two persons are
to be nominated by the Bar Council of India Trust from among the
distinguished men of letters, educationists of repute, etc. in
consultation with the Chancellor. Since the BCI Trust has fallen into
disuse, the Chancellor may be empowered to nominate two
distinguished members from the Bench and the Bar in consultation
with the Chairman of the BCI.

Under sub-clause (g) of clause (1) of this Regulation, the Executive
Council is required to have “three members nominated by the Bar
Council of India from among its members.” Since the NLSIU for its
further growth and development needs more academic inputs, it
would be advantageous to have more number of persons from the
academic side.

Accordingly, we recommend only one nominee of the BCI and two
additional academics to be nominated by the Chancellor in
consultation with the Vice-Chancellor.

Sub-clause (d) of clause (1), providing for a nominee of the Society,
may be substituted by making a provision for the nomination of an
alumni by the Chancellor in consultation with the Vice-Chancellor.

Sub-clause (h) of clause (1) providing for nominations of two
members by the Bar Council of India Trust from amongst the
trustees, may be substituted by one former Director/Vice-Chancellor
of the NLSIU and one retired judge of the High Court to be nominated
by the Chancellor.

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Sub-clause (i) of clause (1) needs redrafting so as to delete the
expression, ‘elected by the teaching staff’, which is inconsistent with
the principle of rotation.

Addition of new sub-clause (j), providing for the inclusion of a senior
personnel from IIM Bangalore, who is from the Department of
Financial Management, as a nominee of the Chancellor. Such an
inclusion will, in turn, strengthen the Finance Committee in the
management of finances.

(d) Powers and functions of the Executive Council

need

modification
Regulation 9(1) empowers the Executive Council to appoint from time
to time, amongst others, the Vice-Chancellor.

This provision is

inconsistent with the provisions contained in Regulation 7 (1) (a) and
(j), which make the Vice-Chancellor not only a member but also the
Chairman of the Executive Council, implying thereby that the
controlling authority vested in the Vice-Chancellor is also the
appointing authority of the Vice-Chancellor himself. Any reference to
the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor under Regulation 9(1) needs
to be omitted, and read as provided under the amended Regulation
18 [see below under (g)].

(e)

Re-constitution of the Academic Council
Regulation 13 deals with the membership of the Academic Council.
Under sub-clause (e) of clause (1) of this Regulation, the Academic
Council is required to have “a nominee of the Bar Council of India
Trust.” In its place, a Professor of Law of high academic repute from
a conventional University may be nominated by the Chancellor in
consultation with the Vice-Chancellor.

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(f)

Reconstitution of the Finance Committee
Regulation 16(1) deals with the membership of the Finance
Committee.

Under sub-clause (c) of clause (1), the Executive

Council is required to nominate three members from amongst its
members out of whom at least one would be from the Bar Council of
India and one from the Government of Karnataka. The third member
to be nominated should be the one mentioned in the newly
introduced sub-clause (j) of Regulation 7(1) dealing with the
membership of the Executive Council.

(g) Mode and manner for the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor
require change
Regulation 18 deals with the appointment of Vice-Chancellor.

In

particular, clauses (1) and (3) of this regulation, inter alia, provide that
the appointee “shall be an academic person and a Professor of Law
at the School,” and that “the First Vice-Chancellor shall be appointed
by the Society with the approval of the Bar Council of India” These
provisions have outlived their utility, and, therefore, need to be
replaced by new clauses.
Clause (1) of Regulation 18 shall be substituted as follows:
“The Vice-Chancellor shall be appointed by the Chancellor
from a panel recommended by the Search Committee, which
shall be constituted by the Chancellor at the initiative of the
outgoing Vice-Chancellor in anticipation of the vacancy of
the post of Vice-Chancellor.”
Clause (3) of Regulation 18 shall be substituted as under:
“The Vice-Chancellor shall ordinarily hold office for a term of
five years or until the attainment of 70 years, whichever is
earlier.

There shall be no impediment in appointing the

same person as Vice-Chancellor for another term of 5 years
or less, subject to the maximum age of retirement, provided

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that the incumbent Vice-Chancellor shall continue in office
until his successor takes over.”

Regulation 18(4)(b), which empowers the Vice-Chancellor to
convene the meetings of the various bodies needs to be deleted
because it is inconsistent with the provision of Regulation 20(3)(c)
that confers similar power on Registrar, a power which is essentially
administrative in character.

(h) Provision relating to Annual Accounts and Audit needs
strengthening
Regulation 24(2) deals with the auditing of the annual accounts by
the auditors appointed by Executive Council, with a supervening
power of getting the accounts re-audited by the auditors appointed
either by the State Government or the BCI Trust. Owing to the lost
relevance of the BCI Trust, its reference under this Regulation needs
deletion. Moreover, for tightening up the regularity both in spending
and accounting, it has been justifiably proposed before the SRC that
it would be desirable to have the accounts concurrently audited by an
officer of CAG establishment whose services may be obtained on
deputation terms.

Regulation 24(3) provides that accounts when audited shall be
published by the Executive Council, and “a copy of the accounts
together with the audit report shall be placed before the Executive
Council…..” Here apparently, the Executive Council is to be read as
“General Council.”

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 20

(i)

Departmentalization for apportioning responsibilities amongst
Heads of the Departments
Regulation 19 provides for appointing the Head of the Department for
each of the departments in the school. However, for making the
provisions of this regulation effectual in terms of apportioning the
responsibilities, it would be imperative to have Departments with their
respective Heads, such as the Head of the Department of Undergraduate Studies, Head of the Department of Post-graduate Studies,
Head of the Department of Distance Education, Head of the
Department of Extension Activities, Head of the Department of
Research and Publication, and so on and so forth – each Department
is headed by the senior faculty member, preferably of the status of a
Professor, including Additional Professor.

(j)

Codification of examination rules
Rules relating to examination system have hitherto been developed
mostly through convention, and many times clarifications are made
by notifications. For certainty and transparency, those rules should
be codified by the appropriate authority of the NLSIU.

(k)

Functional ambit of the Registrar
Regulation 20(1) deals with the appointment of the Registrar by the
Executive Council, with a further stipulation that the appointee “shall
be a whole time officer of the School.” The statement within quotes
needs to be reinforced with a further inclusion, “and that he would be
solely devoting himself to the discharge of administrative functions.”
The need for this inclusion arises because the present experiment of
appointing a faculty member as Registrar, discharging both
administrative and academic functions, has not proved to be
effective.

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B. NON-STRUCTURAL CHANGES

The basic structure envisaged under the National Law School of India Act,
1986, and the Regulations made to give effect to the provisions of the Act, have
provided the requisite stimulus and flexibility to meet the exigencies of situations,
particularly during the early phase of growth and development. In due course of
time, however, as the School progressed to become the centre for excellence,
and the responsibilities passed from the generation of founder members to the
members of next generation, it becomes imperative to institutionalize the various
arrangements hitherto made and developed on some rational basis. The process
of institutionalization does not necessarily involve making changes in the Act and
Regulations made there under.

On the basis of its interactive dialogue and discussion, the SRC makes
the following recommendations:

(a) Imperative need of the Vice-Chancellor and the Faculty residing
at the Campus
The SRC recommends that the Vice-Chancellor and the faculty shall
reside on the campus. The background reasons for making this
recommendation are:
(i)

Realizing the need of a residential University, having its own
exclusive campus, the founding Director (now termed as ViceChancellor) made it a point to reside in the Law School Campus
itself.

Such a simple measure of the mere presence of the

Director/Vice-Chancellor at the campus went a long way to instil
the much desired value of discipline almost in all the activities of
the school.

Students, teachers and the members of the

administrative staff observed punctuality.

Classes were held

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regularly. Examinations were held as per schedule.
were declared on time, and so on so forth.

Results

If we were to

institutionalize this practice of Director/Vice-Chancellor residing
at the campus, the inevitable recommendation is that henceforth
it should be imperative for all the Vice-Chancellors to reside at
the campus. Such a change does not require any structural
change in the Act itself. This may at the best be termed as
‘institutional rule’ – a rule which is developed by the school itself
in the light of its own healthy practices, but still in consonance
with the spirit of the Act and its Regulations.
(ii)

For creating conducive environment through formal and informal
interactions, the full-time faculty, presently of the strength of 22,
should be required to stay compulsorily on the campus in the
residential university. At present only 10 members are staying
at the campus and that too excluding the two key personnel,
namely the Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar. Of course, the
residential requirement for the part-time visiting faculty of 8 to 10
persons should not be imperative.

(b)

Appointment and retention of high-calibre faculty
Securing and retaining the services of teachers of high-calibre is one
of the most critical requirements for raising the standard of any
educational institution. Contract appointments should be discontinued.
Once the institution gains maturity and a certain level of credibility, the
contract appointment or ad hoc arrangements are counter-productive.
For promoting excellence, the institution is required to secure and
retain the services of teachers of high merit and distinction, who are
committed to realize the distant vision of the institution and not just
attending its immediate concerns. In order to retain teachers with such
potential qualities, the institution is obligated to provide permanent

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placement or at least a secured fixed tenure with better emoluments
and, if necessary, independent of UGC grades for teachers in
conventional colleges and Universities. Ideally, the grades should be
in the proximity of what is given to the faculty in the medical and other
professional colleges.

(c) Criteria for faculty promotion
The promotion of faculty members at different levels should not be
solely on the basis of seniority, though it could be one of the factors.
Regular periodic evaluation of academic performance, including
research contributions published in referral journals of international
repute (say, at least two articles in a year, including one in home
journal) and class room teaching by peer group or other reputed
academics, should be the significant consideration for promotion. That
would also give a requisite fillip to the revival of March of the Law and
NLSIU Journal that have become virtually extinct owing to the lack of
contributions by the faculty.

(d) Assignment of teaching work
Assignment of teaching and administrative work should be principle
based and its distribution equitable. It would be untenable both
administratively and academically if a teacher is assigned a subject to
teach in which he has no core competence or modicum of
comprehension and understanding. Such a venture is likely to breed
nothing but indiscipline amongst the students and dislike in the subject
taught. Two things are required to be done to avoid such a mismatch.
One, care should be taken at the time of recruitment that only those
persons are appointed who have the competence in those courses
that are lacking good faculty. Two, all new appointees should be
given formal orientation in teaching methods, mode of evaluation of

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students’ performance, library use, use of internet sources like
Westlaw so as to bring them at par with the tradition of the NLSIU.

(e) Need for continual monitoring by the Executive Council (EC)
After the General Council, which is the chief advisory body, the
Executive Council is the chief executive body of the school. All the
critical functions of administration, management and control of the
school are statutorily vested in the EC. Presently it consists of as
many as 16 members, who are expected to meet at least once in three
months with a prior notice of not less than 15 days for discharging
varied functions, including, amongst others, “to entertain, adjudicate
upon, and if it thinks fit, to redress any grievances of the officers of the
School, the teachers, the students and the School employees, who
may, for any reason, feel aggrieved, otherwise than by an act of a
court” [Regulation 9(9)]. In practice, however, such a heavy
accumulated agenda is disposed off in no time, making the meeting
more of a ritual. A significant suggestion has, therefore, been made by
the Founding Director of the NLSIU, proposing that the EC meetings
should be at least a two-day affair, the first day devoted to the
appraisal of academic affairs and matters of discipline, and second
day for administration and accounts. In fact, for having a first hand
knowledge, it is further added, the EC members should meet student
representatives on the very first day, and, if necessary, sit in their class
with prior arrangement with teachers.
Perhaps, realizing the critical importance of the EC in managing school
affairs on day-to-day basis, Regulation 11 particularly provides for the
constitution of standing committees and appointment of ad hoc
committees by the EC:
“(1)

Subject to the provisions of this Act

and the

regulations made in this behalf, the Executive
Council may, by resolution, constitute such standing

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committees or appoint ad-hoc committees for such
purposes and with such powers as the Executive
Council may think fit or exercising any power or
discharging any function of the School or for
enquiring into, reporting or advising upon any matter
relating to the School.
(2) The Executive Council may co-opt such persons to a
standing committee or an ad-hoc committee as it
considers suitable and may permit them to attend the
meeting of the Executive Council.”

In addition to the above, Regulation 12 provides for the delegation of
powers by the Executive Council to the Vice-Chancellor or to a
committee “such of its powers as it may deem fit subject to the
condition that the action taken by the Vice-Chancellor or such
committee in the exercise of powers so delegated shall be reported at
the next meeting of the Executive Council.”

In consonance with the objective as spelled out above in the light of
Regulations 11 and 12, the SRC recommends that it would be
perfectly in order if a sub-committee consisting of 3 to 5 persons from
amongst the local members of the Executive Council [may be called
the Local Advisory Council of Standing Committee] be constituted to
closely supervise, and assist the School and the Vice-Chancellor in
collective decision-making in all crucial matters in anticipation of the
formal approval of the Executive Council. This, in fact, is the seminal
suggestion made by Justice V.S. Malimath, former Chief Justice of
Karnataka and Kerala High Courts, in his interaction with the SRC.
Such a provision, in his opinion, would make “administration of the
School more efficient and less expansive.”

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(f) Intake of students through Common Law Aptitude Test (CLAT)
The objective of the Common Law Aptitude Test for the purpose of
admission to the NLSIU is to judge relatively the character and quality
of mind of the entrants in terms of such elements as inherent traits,
aptitude for legal studies, reasoning, and ability for abstract analysis,
originality and creativity of mind.

In order to achieve this singular

objective, the pattern of getting memorized answers to standardized
questions needs to be abandoned and replaced by the one that would
encourage thinking and application of mind afresh. In this respect, it
would indeed be profitable to have a close look at the pattern adopted
by, say, the acclaimed management institutes like IIMs in the form of
CAT. With the introduction of CLAT for all the NLSIUs in the country,
putting in the requisite resources for developing innovative measures
on the analogy of prestigious management institutions should be no
impediment. Their emphasis is to test the critical ability to comprehend
and analyze. Such a measure would also assist the School in weeding
out non-serious students who try to gain admission to prestigious law
schools merely on the strength of mastering the ‘techniques of
admission processes’ through the so-called ‘specialized coaching’ at
the highly commercialized coaching centres, who charge hefty fees for
their feat! It needs to be noticed with concern, as the Chief Librarian
stated before the SRC on the basis of his interaction with the studentusers of the library, that in the earlier phase of the school, the students
gaining admission to this prestigious law school mostly belonged to the
middle and upper-middle classes as compared to the present scenario
where mostly they belong to affluent families. The present lots are
indifferent to personal interaction as differentiated from the earlier
ones.

Moreover, there is an ancillary benefit of holding the highly organized
CLAT on all India bases. It is bound to introduce the much needed

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cultural diversity in the lives of the residents by drawing students
across the country from different States and regions.

(g) Increasing the intake of students
There are two major concerns expressed about the inputs and the
outputs of the NLSIU. The concern about the input is that impression
has gone around in knowledgeable circles that the NLSIU is meant
only for the elite or upper classes to serve the corporate world. Such
impression is reinforced by the fact that only those students could
afford to study in the prestigious law school, who are in a position to
meet the high expenditure to the tune of about one lakh twenty-five
thousand rupees per annum on account of tuition fees, hostel, mess
and other infrastructure charges. If the other charges, such as the cost
of books, stationery, computer software and hardware, travel and
personal upkeep are included, the yearly expenditure further rises to in
the proximity of about two lakhs of rupees. Despite the heavy
expenditure, the NLSIU is still the preferred place to study, but only for
those who could afford to invest, say, around 10 lakhs of rupees for the
graduation course of five years.

After graduating from the NLSIU, where does the chiselled product
go? As compared to other conventional law schools, the number of
passing outs is relatively much smaller. If we simply apply the principle
of supply and demand, most of the graduates are instantly absorbed
by the big corporate houses and multi-national companies. Only a
fewer are left to join bar and/or judiciary. This imbalance can be
corrected, at least partially, by increasing the number of intakes. The
Founder Director, Dr. Menon has proposed that with the available
infrastructure (excepting hostels), the present intake of 80 students can
be doubled. In his view, if the NLSIU spends over 10 crore of rupees

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 28
every year to educate less than 500 students in all (excepting distance
education), it is not justified to keep the enrolment to 80 for so long.

The prescription of increasing the number of student-intake would
serve two purposes.

On the principle of supply and demand, the

number of persons joining the legal profession is likely to increase
substantially.

The increased intake within the ambit of existing

infrastructural facilities is also likely to cut down the cost per student,
and thereby, easing the position of some of those who find it difficult to
meet the high cost of education. One of the senior students, who had
been the office-bearer of the student body, while making presentation
before the SRC has gone to the extent of stating that in order to
maintain the school’s public stand, ‘No student who joins NLSIU will be
forced to leave on account of financial hardship,’ all those in need are
given support in the form of scholarships, fee-wavers or assistance in
securing

educational

loans.

For

fructifying

this

objective,

he

unhesitatingly proposed that the amount kept for ‘merit-cum-need’
based scholarships should be continuously revised and augmented
with the rising cost of expenditure. [Hitherto, the amount dispersed on
scholarships on yearly basis, which is around 3 lakh of rupees, has
hitherto remained static since the year 2001-02.]

Introduction of elective subjects from third-year onwards leading to
specialization in specific areas, such as Taxation, Labour Law, Family
Law, Criminal Law, et al.,

that are considered professionally

productive may also provide added incentive to join bar and/or
judiciary.

(h) Developing institutional relationship with alumni
The alumni of NLSIU located outside Bangalore within India and also
outside India have shown keen interest to build enduring bridges of

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understanding with their own school, say, through the creation of a
formal Alumni-Relation Cell, or NLS-organized Re-unions. One of the
alumni, presently working in a Law Firm in New York (USA), has
communicated with the SRC to say that such an institutional
arrangement could be created through circular letters or even by using
the on-line facility, informing the alumni about the on-going various
activities at the NLSIU and soliciting financial support from them that
could legitimately be used in a transparent manner for supporting
regular school operations, augmenting computer and library facilities,
encouraging publications by students, funding faculty research, and
even attracting and retaining high-calibre faculty.

In his own

assessment, the law firms manned by alumni should be most willing to
give ‘no-string attached’ matching contributions out of resources that
are invariably kept apart for philanthropic purposes. Of course, for all
such donations, donors are entitled to deductions in their tax liability.
Moreover, alumni could be encouraged to render technical and
professional skills on voluntary basis. This could be easily feasible by
conducting workshops on campus or through web sites.

Building

relationship with overseas law schools where the alumni have worked
or are working is another area that needs to be explored. Such a
venture is sure to give impetus to institutional sharing and exchange of
ideas between different jurisdictions and thereby promote sociocultural diversity.

(i) Other endorsements of the SRC on academic counts include
(i) Integration between Teaching and Research Centres
Teaching modules need to be informed by the functional outputs of
the various research centres at the NLSIU that are emanating from
their field work and resultant publications.

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(ii) Integration of the Centre for Child and the Law into the mainstream
of the NLSIU
The Centre of Child and the Law (CCL), set up in 1996, was
primarily conceived as the centre for research and field extension
programmes. However, gradually through its singular contributions,
the CCL has enriched and continuing to contribute empirically to
the development of such courses as on Law, Poverty and
Development, Sociology, Human Rights and the Seminar Course
on Child Rights and Law.

For their continued professional

excellence, the research and the field staff of the CCL vehemently
pleaded before the SRC for their integration de jure into the main
stream of the NLSIU for securing promotional avenues and
permanence in service. Such a claim in view of the Commission
seems to be legitimate.

(iii) Institutionalization of practical component
The practice and procedure component, which is to be learnt in
association with and under the supervision of the practicing lawyers
in their chambers and visit to the courts should be institutionalized
for yielding better results.

(iv) Enhancement of Faculty inputs through short-term exchange
programme
Collaboration with other institutions of excellence could be
developed through short-term exchange programmes in areas of
mutual interest.

(v) Involving post-graduate students in under-graduate teaching
The practice of involving post-graduate students with undergraduate teaching requires to be revived. It would help in reducing

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the burden on the core faculty members to some extent on the one
hand, and providing the requisite teacher-training on the other.

(vi) Distance education programme needs more attention
Reading material provided as a part of distance education
programme requires continual updating.

(vii) Periodical review of the courses
Under the Bar Council requirements, though the periodic review of
the courses taught does not seem to be mandatory, yet it would be
highly desirable to update them in the light of the developing law. It
would also be advisable to introduce new courses by scrapping the
defunct ones keeping in view the emerging thrust areas.

Such

courses would of course be elective in nature and require upgradation of the faculty prior to their introduction.

(viii) Acceptance of externally-funded projects
Externally-funded projects should be allowed to be undertaken
selectively through a screening process involving the members of
the Academic Council and the Executive Council. This would
ensure priority of teachers’ obligation to the students of the NLSIU.

(ix) Widening the network of extension services of the NLSIU
The ambit of extension services of the NLSIU could be widened
and institutionalized both as a part of social service and gaining
valuable experience first hand. This can be usefully done, say, by
organizing training workshops for government officers, judicial
officers, continuing education for the lawyers of the State in
association with the organized profession, NGOs, alternate dispute
resolution

processes,

conciliation

proceedings,

matrimonial

reconciliation, legal aid services, legal literacy programmes,

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rendering advisory opinions to various departments of the
government, semi-government, and other organizations. With its
multi-discipline faculty, the NLSIU could also become a centre for
policy analysis. While rendering all such services, the students
could also be involved profitably by exploring the possibility of
linking the services with the course structure via Legal Services
Clinic Centre, which has been established for giving practical
training to students.

(j) Administrative management needs attention

(i) Decentralization of administrative management with clear
delineation of duties and their continual professional assessment
should be of immediate concern.

(ii) Service conditions of the faculty need to be defined for avoiding the
element of arbitrariness.

(k) Hostel management needs restructuring
(i) Hostel Management with Chief Warden (a senior teacher with
experience of dealing with young students), two full-time wardens
(one Male and one Female) manning Boys’ and Girls’ Hostels with
requisite number of Attendants. For effective management with
requisite discipline, the clear rules may be framed with participation
of hostel residents themselves.

(ii) Improvement of working conditions of lower staff, such as, hostel
workers, security staff, maintenance and cleaning personnel, in
terms of better emoluments and security of service requires
attention.

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(l) Provision of health-care facilities
Provision of medical and health care facilities for the staff and their
dependant families needs immediate attention. Health Centre at the
campus should be manned by a full-time doctor assisted by male
and female nurses and a full-time Counsellor to meet emergent
situations.

(m) Acquisition of books & journals
Participation of all the stake holders in the acquisition of library
books, journals, and other material is highly desirable.

VI.

FOCAL POINT OF THE NLSIU

Whether are we going? Are we moving in the desired direction? The
NLSIU was founded with the avowed objective “to advance and disseminate
learning and knowledge of law and legal processes, and their role in national
development,” “to develop in the student and research scholar a sense of
responsibility to serve society,” “to make law and legal processes efficient
instruments of social development” and “to do all such things as are incidental,
necessary or conducive to the attainment of all or any of the objects of the
School.” Are we accomplishing these proclaimed objectives and feeling fulfilled?

To begin with it is not essentially the students who are problematic. Nor it
is the problem of students versus teachers.
themselves.

It is the problem of teachers

It is they who require an effective code of conduct in the first

instance. With the incorporation of few proposed changes, both structural and
non-structural, it is imperative for the management of the NLSIU to lay down the
clear code of conduct and then extract accountability from each and every staff
member through the strategy of continual evaluation of their conduct and
performance. But all this could fructify only when the principal man of the school,

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namely the Vice-Chancellor, wields the moral authority born out of his own ideal
conduct and academic leadership, and is committed to serve the cause of the
school.

‘Discipline’ is a multi-dimensional value, involving the value of
commitment and dedicated service.

With this drastic decline in discipline,

therefore, the basic objective-direction of the NLSIU that promises to inculcate in
the student and the research scholar “a sense of responsibility to serve society,”
and “to make law and legal processes efficient instrument of social development”
gets lost. The deviating direction is evident from the fact that a senior faculty
member, reflecting upon the present scenario, is compelled to share with the
SRC that sincerity and commitment amongst the teachers, which used be the
trade marks of the NLSIU, are now conspicuous by their absence, and that it is
now highly impossible to get the work done by the faculty members.
Absenteeism is common among faculty members, and that there is no
accountability for the faculty, stated another senior faculty member.

If

the

controlling

characters,

the

teachers,

themselves

become

uncontrollable, the character of the controlled ones, the students, could be
anybody’s guess. Distressing picture of the students’ state of affairs emerges
from the following cryptic account of a senior faculty member before the SRC:
“Resort to drugs and liquors among students have
been on the rise. Drugs have been discovered near
hostel premises and reported on. Empty liquor bottles
bear mute witness to the consumption of liquor by the
students. There is no visible change for the better.
Unabashed indulgence in sex has been disturbingly
on the rise. Public display of affection both inside
college premises and outside has become routine. At
an open meeting of the faculty and students a first
year girl student even asked the Vice-Chancellor why

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the college has not provided space for sex.

The

rumour mill has it that the preference for NLS is
because of its climate of license.”

The permissive atmosphere of the school has emboldened the students to
ask for more release or liberation. A presentation was made by a senior student
requesting the SRC to restrain the NLSIU from resorting to “pervasive
surveillance and censorship actions on the NLSIU Computer network with
respect to communication and speech both made and accessed by members of
the student community,” for it seriously affects “student’s everyday civil liberties
concerning speech and expression.”

The young minds, in the absence of beneficent control and interactive
relationship with the teachers, have become an easy prey to all sorts of evil
practices of smoking, drinking, drug abuse, sex, etc., resulting into terrible stress,
dreadful depression, at least two cases of suicides and a dozen of attempted
suicides, and even a murder! For resurrecting such an environment, surely we
do not require any prophetic vision. What is simply required is to put our own
house in order along with the recommended structural and non-structural
changes.

Sd/Justice K.T. Thomas
(Chairman)

Sd/Professor Virendra Kumar
(Member)

Sd/Professor M.P. Singh
(Member)

35