In this article, Ninisha of Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law discusses top law colleges in India.
Top Law Colleges in India
In this post-modern society, many exquisite fields have emerged with the advent of new ideas and concepts. In the midst of these new fields, law has blossomed into an ever-expanding discipline, the branches of which are proliferating day by day. The demand of lawyers has protruded in our country due to increased disputes and complex crimes which are hiking unstoppably. Only law can convert injustice to justice and diminish sufferings. But the question is that how to train students in this specialized sphere so as to make them ready for their future endeavours and career in law? The answer is better education, maximum support and attractive opportunities which our respectable law institutions provide in India. These institutions can be divided into government and private. Let us discuss about some of the eminent institutions of our Democratic nation:
National Law Universities (NLU)
These are government funded universities, recognized by University Grants Commission and affiliated to Bar Council of India. Students can pursue legal education from these after 12th class by passing Common Law Admission Test. The curriculum is moulded in such a pattern that students get excellent experience and exposure so as to face further challenges in their later life.
- There are total 22 NLUs for now. They can be divided into 3 tiers. NLSIU Banglore, NALSAR Hyderabad, NLJS Kolkata, NLIU Bhopal, NLU Jodhpur, NLU Delhi, GNLU Gujarat and HNLU Raipur are in first tier.
- NUALS Kochi, RMLNLU Lucknow, RGNUL Patiala and CNLU Patna come in the second tier.
- In the third tier, NLUJJA Assam, TNNLS Trichy, NUSRL Ranchi, NLU Orissa, DSNLU Vishakhapatnam are there.
- Newly established NLUS are also improving: MNLU Nagpur, MNLU Mumbai, HPNLU Himachal, and MNLU Aurangabad.
- Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh has been recently established in India.
First in the list is National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Banglore, which was the first to be established. In India Today Rankings, NLSIU was considered as on top in 2016 and NLU Jodhpur, NLIU (Bhopal) AND NUJS (Kolkata) were appraised as best emerging law colleges. NALSAR (Hyderabad) and GNLU (Gujarat) were some of them which were included in the top 10 list at that time.
IDIA (Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access) organisation ranked top 5 NLUS as the best in India: NLSIU(1), NALSAR(2), NUJS(3), NLU Jodhpur(4) and NLU Delhi(5), depending upon their academics, faculty, facilities, infrastructure, locational benefits, placements and internships.Also, according to the OUTLOOK magazine, NLSIU, Banglore is ranked at top in India for its performance in 2018. NLUJ has been ranked at second position after NLSIU. HNLU Raipur is at seventh position, NLU Orissa has been ranked at eighteenth, according to the scores of CLAT which they had received recently.
According to the National Institutional Framework Rankings (NIRF), which were announced by Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar, considered NLSIU as India’s top leading Law University with RANK First followed by NLU Delhi at second and NALSAR at third position in the year 2018. Then NLU Jodhpur was also ranked at fifth place. NUJS (Kolkata) was ranked at seventh and RMLNLU (Lucknow) grabbed eighth rank. According to ‘Legally India’, NLSIU comes at top in 2018, followed by NALSAR, NLIU, NUJS, NLU Jodhpur, GNLU, MNLU Mumbai, HNLU, RMLNLU, RGNUL, NUALS, NLU Orissa, CNLU, MNLU Nagpur, NUSRL, DSNLU, NLUJJA, TNNLS and MNLU Aurangabad in this particular order of ranking respectively.
But there are certain government colleges other than NLUs which can be taken into consideration like Jamia Millia Islamia and Banaras Hindu University. They also hold prominent spots in the law discipline and attract large number of students in their institutions.
Private Law Institutions
Private law colleges are also providing quality education and they are also expanding at a fast pace. Whether it is 3 year LLB or 5 year BA.LLB, there is superfluity of opportunities in these esteemed colleges. These institutions provide exposure to multifarious activities in aspect of mooting, extracurricular activities, academics or anything. Nowadays, every private college tries to provide education in every area like criminal law, business law, international law, constitutional law etc. in order to compete with their rivals. Some of them are as follows:
Maharashtra
- Symbiosis law school (Pune)
- Bharati Vidyapeeth, New law School (Pune)
- DY Patil College Pune
- Manikchand Law College.
Punjab
Army Institute of Law (Mohali)
Delhi
Amity Law School (Delhi), IMS law school (Noida), VIPS, USLLS
Gujarat
Institute of Law (Ahmedabad), Nirma University,
Haryana
Jindal Global Law School.
Banglore
Christ University and MS Ramaiah College of Law.
Hyderabad
ICFAI Law School (Hyderabad)
Bhubaneshwar
KIIT School of Law.
These are some of the reputed Private Law Colleges in India which provide Legal Education and professional ethics to the budding lawyers.
Students generally consider these colleges as last resort when they not able to secure place in any other college. But it is important to always keep Plan B so as to prevent your year from being wasted. Some of the colleges are:
In private ones, there are KLE Society’s Law College (Banglore), GITAM University of (Vishakhapatnam), University of Petroleum and Energy (Dehradun), Alliance School of Law (Banglore), JSS Law School (Mysore), Banglore Institute of Legal Studies, The NorthCap University (Gurgaon), Indore Institute of Law ( Indore) and SDM Law School (Manglore).
Also, Lloyd Law School (Noida), Sidhharth College of Law (Mumbai) and School of Law (Mumbai) are also included in this list. Even Gitarattan International Business School of Delhi, Sri Krishna college of Education Baghpat are to be included. They need profound improvement in their infrastructure for encouraging student participation in their colleges.
Regarding Government colleges in this category, kurukshetra University, Osmania University of Hyderabad, Department of Law-University of Calcutta, Damodaram Law University and St. Wilfred’s College of Law are included. These colleges also provide Legal Education in India in order to help students to pursue their dreams.
All these three categories tell us about different law colleges in India whether Government or Private which provide facilities and exposure to our future generation and work for the welfare of the country. There are certain clarifications which have to be made regarding the selection criteria of universities:
Important note
It should be noted that there is no authoritative ranking list of law schools in India. Every Organisation/magazine/ firm/coaching interprets position of NLUs, private and local colleges according to its own bias and prejudice. The rankings are not Official and therefore, aspirants should not rely upon this categorization. Every university has its own value and status which should not be undermined.
These rankings are mostly deceptive which confuses the students while selecting the colleges. Even some organisations and agencies presented top colleges at lower positions. Also, parents should also carefully examine the aspects of different colleges before sending their children there instead of being influenced by news agencies. Above points should also be taken into consideration which will be immensely helpful.
Motivation for Aspirants
The main concern is that if a student is not able to secure his/her place in any NLU or other desired institution then there is always a way to get out of the problematic situation. If a person is willing to continue career in Law then it can be pursued from local colleges also and hard work always pays off irrespective of the location of college, it just depends upon the talent, utter determination and confidence upon oneself. If you are not serious regarding your career and progress then no college, however, reputed or advanced, can make you reach the acme of life. Struggle and belief are those two constituents which make a lethal combination.
