Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur


Maharashtra National Law University Nagpur is a National Law University and a public law school established by the government through the Maharashtra National Law University Act. The university is the 19th National Law University established in India and is located in the Orange City of Nagpur, Maharashtra. The Chief Justice of India serves as the Head of the institution.

History

The demand for the establishment of a National Law University was the oldest among all national level institutions like IIM, IIIT, AIIMS, and NIPER in Vidarbha considered a backward region of Maharashtra. Nagpur was first tipped to get state's first National Law University when its demand was endorsed by dignitaries like then-president Pratibha Patil, chief justice Mohit Shah and then chief minister Prithviraj Chavan during High Court Bar Association's platinum jubilee celebrations on February 2011. But the proposal failed to move further, thanks to the apathy of Congress-NCP and BJP governments. However, Ex-High Court Bar Association president Anil Mardikar first raised demand on February 6, 2011, for an NLU in Nagpur. But the Maharashtra Government shifted the institute to Mumbai as revealed by then minister of state DP Sawant. The High Court Bar Association of Nagpur and District Bar Association of Nagpur staged protests & even filed a PIL in Nagpur High Court against this move. The Government was forced to allow the NLU for Nagpur. The Bill to govern NLU's was tabled in the Nagpur session of the assembly in 2013 for the first time. The State Assembly passed the Maharashtra National Law University Act paving way for the establishment of the institution. The Chief Justice of India appointed Justice Sharad Bobde as the first chancellor for MNLU, Nagpur and District judge Dr.N.M Sakharkar was appointed as officer on special duty and the Registrar of the university.

Academics and Research

The university has established twenty-eight centers for advanced legal studies and research to address the socio-legal issues and challenges and to conduct research on thriving issues of law, social science and humanities. These centers offer courses, conduct seminars, conferences, and training programs for the identified target groups.
The prominent research centres are
  1. Centre for Advanced Study in Criminal Law
  2. Centre for Consumer Protection Laws and Advocacy
  3. Centre for Advanced Study in International Humanitarian Law
  4. Centre for Study in Agriculture Law and Economics
  5. Bureau of Information for Studies Abroad
  6. Directorate of Distance Education
  7. Centre for Advanced Studies in Human Rights
  8. Centre for Woman and Child Rights
  9. Centre of Intellectual Property Law
  10. Centre for Legal Aid and Services
  11. Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution
The university has inked Memorandum of Understanding with prominent law universities of the country for the purpose of academic collaboration that will encompass exchange of students and members of faculty between the two universities, etc. The university has inked MoUs and collaborations with the following institutions
  1. National Law School of India University, Bangalore;
  2. National Law University, Delhi;
  3. Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab;
  4. The Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, Mumbai;
  5. Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar;
  6. National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam;
  7. Maharashtra National Law University, Aurangabad.

    Library

The university's library has physical copies of over 35,000 legal titles. It has received various donations prominently from Bombay High Court Library for its development. The university also has access to various physical and virtual legal databases.

Activities

The university offers B.A.LL.B. Five-Year Integrated Degree Course, One-Year LL.M. Postgraduate Degree Course, Doctor of law Programme, Short-term diplomas and certificate courses in law

Publications

  1. MNLU Contemporary Law Review
  2. MNLU Student Law Review
  3. MNLU Journal of Social Sciences
  4. MNLU Journal on International Law
  5. MNLU Journal on Taxation Laws
  6. MNLU Journal on Arbitration
  7. MNLU Journal of law and economics

    Admissions

The admissions to the university are done on merit ranking based on the Common Law Admission Test of India which is a centralized test for admission to 21 National Law Universities in India. The eligibility is as per the CLAT Notification. The acceptance rate being less than 5 percent with sixty thousand applicants applying for 120 seats as of 2018.

Affiliations

MNLU Nagpur is recognized by the Bar Council of India and the University Grants Commission as a state university. The Bombay High Court serves as the governing institution of the university.

Memberships

MNLU is a member and has a technical association with
  1. Asian Law Institute, Singapore
  2. Commonwealth Legal Education Association
  3. Forum of South Asian Clinical Law Teachers, Goa
  4. Indian Economic Association ;
  5. Indian Institute of Comparative Law, Jaipur
  6. Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi
  7. Indian Law Institute, New Delhi
  8. Indian Political Science Association
  9. Indian Society of Criminology, Madras;
  10. Indian Society of International Law, New Delhi
  11. Institute of Constitutional and Parliamentary Studies, New Delhi
  12. International Association of Law Schools
  13. International Law Students Association, USA
  14. Legal Information Institute of India
  15. Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute
  16. National Academy of Direct Taxes, Nagpur
  17. The Institute of Military Law, Nagpur

    Governing Council

The Governing Council of the university is as follows
  1. Hon’ble Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of India- Chancellor
  2. Hon'ble Justice Pradeep Nandrajog, Chief Justice of High Court of Bombay- Pro-Chancellor
  3. Prof. Vijender Kumar, Vice-Chancellor
  4. Shri K.K. Venugopal, Attorney General of India
  5. Hon’ble Justice B. R. Gavai, Judge, Supreme Court of India
  6. Hon’ble Minister for Higher Education, State of Maharashtra
  7. Hon’ble Minister for Law, State of Maharashtra
  8. Advocate General of Maharashtra
  9. Shri Jayant D. Jaibhave, Nominee of Bar Council of India
  10. Chairman Bar Council of Maharashtra
  11. Principal Secretary, Higher and Technical Education Department, Government of Maharashtra
  12. Hon’ble Justice V S Sirpurkar, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India
  13. Dr. Prakash Amte, Social Worker
  14. Hon’ble , Former Judge, Bombay High Court
  15. Prof. Parmjit S. Jaswal, Vice-Chancellor, RGNUL Patiala, Punjab

    Academic Council

The academic council of the university consists of the following-
  1. Prof. Vijender Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, NLU, Nagpur - Chairman
  2. Dr Raghunath Anant Mashelkar, National Research Professor, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune
  3. Shri Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Laureate, Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation, New Delhi
  4. Hon’ble Justice G. Raghuram, Former Judge, Andhra Pradesh High Court, Hyderabad
  5. Nominee of the State Government of Maharashtra
  6. Shri Manan Kumar Mishra, Sr. Advocate and Chairman, Bar Council of India, New Delhi
  7. Registrar, ex-officio Secretary

    Campus

The university's main campus is under construction and is coming up at a cost of 750 crores sanctioned by the Government of Maharashtra. The Groundbreaking ceremony for the campus was performed by Ranjan Gogoi, Chief Justice of India; Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister and Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The new building would be a completely green one with state-of-art facilities for the students and staff. It would have a ‘museum of law’, along with a health and wellness centre to help nearby villagers. The campus will follow Indian Green Building Council norms. It will have solar panels to produce energy, and food would be cooked on it. All its classrooms will be embedded with information and communication technology. The construction of the permanent campus is expected to be completed by 2021.