The WB National University of Juridical Sciences
"Dr. Ambedkar Bhavan" 12, LB Block, Sector III, Salt Lake City, Kolkata - 700098 Phone:
(033) 2335 7397 / 0510 / 2806 / 2809 / 2811, 2569 4700 to 30 • Fax: (033) 2335 7422 / 0511
E-mail: info@nujs.edu • Gram: JURVARSITY • Website: www.nujs.edu

STUDENT JURIDICAL ASSOCIATION
Date: November 11, 2017
To
The Executive Council
WBNUJS – 700098

Subject: Student Representation Re: Establishment of Two Branches
Respected Member
Beginning with the National Law School of India University at Bangalore (‘NLSIU’),
National Law Universities (‘NLUs’) were envisaged to establish “national level institution of
excellence in higher learning of law”. Consequently, NLUs witness immense cultural and
regional diversity indispensable to enhancement of learning and requisite broadening of
horizons. In order to give effect to the intention of setting up “in each State a Law School”,
modelled on the lines of NLSIU, the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences,
1999 (‘NUJS’) was established in order to improve “the quality of professional legal
education”.
The proposal to set up two branches of NUJS is (a) antithetical to the present structure
and functioning of NLUs and (b) will have significant negative impacts of the present
campus.
A. ANTITHETICAL TO THE STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONING OF NLUS
The current working of NLUs in general and NUJS in particular shows that their

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 working is vastly different from that of the traditional universities. Indeed, the same can be
said for all national level premier institutes imparting professional education (IITs and IIMs,
for instance). The proposal will primarily cause the following problems:
Disparity and Fall in Academic Quality
In NUJS’ case, the curriculum is finalised after extensive peer-review among faculty
members. Such a mechanism will be significantly impeded if not completely foreclosed upon
the approval of this proposal. This will significantly take away from the progressive
development of curriculums, thereby reducing the growth of NUJS as a centre of higher
academic learning.
Similarly, in stark contrast to traditional universities, the examination question papers
and evaluation of answer scripts is entirely managed by the respective faculty members.
These question papers are set specifically on basis of classroom teaching. Such a
mechanism will again be threatened by the approval of this proposal. It will be unsustainable
to shuttle professors among various branches. In such circumstances, not only will the
academic autonomy of faculty at NUJS’ present campus be compromised but it will also
inevitably give rise to disparity within a common university. Such disparity will give rise to
disparity in both evaluation and standards of teaching within NUJS, thereby being antithetical
to the idea of NLUs.
Teachers at NUJS offer several nuanced and niche electives to several students. This
greatly lends to the much valued quality and diversity of courses offered at NUJS. We
are offered courses such as Outer Space Law, World Trade Law, Media & Entertainment
Law, Law and Impoverishment, Corporate Finance, Advanced Property Law, Film and Law,
et al. by arguably the foremost scholars of the respective areas in the country. Elective
courses form twenty eight out of fifty two courses offered at NUJS. This proposal will
inevitably reduce the quality of instruction offered to students on the new campuses, thereby
reducing the overall quality of graduates. This proposal is therefore antithetical to the
purpose behind NUJS’ establishment.

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 Similarly, students at NUJS learn as much through the unique system of credit courses
as they do from the mandated courses. Credit courses are a platform for invitation and
several highly specialised lectures by industry leaders and distinguished academics to
give students a deeper practical and academic insight on the concerned subject. This
practice is greatly aided by the location of Kolkata. Such a system cannot be adequately
replicated at the two proposed branches, thereby further increasing the disparity among
various branches.
Unsustainability of the Present Student Body and Culture
NUJS prides itself in having one of the most vibrant student bodies and cultures in the
country. For instance, for representing NUJS in moot court competitions and
parliamentary debates, its students undergo a rigorous two month process on the NUJS
campus with external judging. On basis of performance in this process, students are
selected for representing the university. In the three-branch model, it will be unsustainable to
relatively judge, rank and suitably allocate such competitions to the students.
Similarly, NUJS’ Student Juridical Association is perhaps the most vibrant student
body in the country. It is headed by the President and Vice President, both of whom are
directly elected by the entire student body at NUJS. This much valued institution too
will become unsustainable in the three-branch model.
NUJS is widely known and recognised for the hundreds of formal and informal
events organised by the student body through the course of an academic year. This
includes the flagship events such as NUJS-HSF Corporate Law Moot Court Competition,
NUJS-CCI Moot Court Competition, NUJS Parliamentary Debate, NUJS Model United
Nations, Outlawed (the annual cultural fest) and Invicta/Para-Invicta (the largest law school
sports fest). It will be impossible for the student body to replicate hundreds of such
events at the proposed campuses, thereby bringing huge disparity in terms of the
exposure afforded to students at different branches of NUJS.

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 B. NEGATIVE IMPACTS
Fall in Student Quality
Students in NLUs are admitted through the Common Law Admission Test (‘CLAT’).
CLAT follows a preference-based model for seat-allotment. These preferences are based on
definitive indicia such as reputation, past recruitment figures, quality of faculty,
diversity of students, location, accessibility et al. NUJS, Kolkata has always attracted
applicants falling within the bracket of Rank 1 to Rank 200 in the CLAT. On the other
hand, on the basis of the aforementioned indicia, Asansol and Siliguri clearly do not stand at
par with NUJS, Kolkata and other well-established NLUs.
If new campuses are opened, there are two ways in which CLAT could possibly
accommodate the intake of students for all campuses of NUJS:
a) Based on our limited knowledge and understanding, the current CLAT
Memorandum of Understanding between NLUs supports the model discussed in this point
for different colleges under the same university and administration. Applicants would be
required to fill preference for “NUJS” as one single university; and subsequently, selected
students would be segregated into the three branches through an internal mechanism.
Before filling in the preferences, students would thus be uncertain on the specific branch
of “NUJS” that will be allotted to them. Consequently, students not interested in studying
in the Asansol and Siliguri branch would be deterred and dis-incentivised in choosing
“NUJS” as their preference, owing to the risk of not being allotted the Kolkata branch. This
would necessarily lead to top-rank holders not choosing “NUJS” as a preference, thereby
leading to a severe downfall in the quality of student-intake of “NUJS” as a whole.
b) Applicants would be required to fill preferences for the three branches of NUJS
separately. Over the years, indicia mentioned above have led to a recognised pattern
of student preferences in CLAT among NLUs. This includes well-established NLUs such
as NLSIU, NALSAR, NUJS, Kolkata, NLU-J and NLIU being preferred by high-rank

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 holders in CLAT. Whereas the later and newer NLUs such as TNNLS, DSNLU, NLUJAA,
and NUSRL fall at the bottom of the preference list and attract only the lowest-rank
holders in CLAT, even extending to ranks above one thousand. In a situation where
applicants provide preferences for the three branches separately, the higher ranks would
continue to choose “NUJS, Kolkata” as their preference owing to its well-established
position, while newer branches of Asansol and Siliguri would either not be chosen at all
or only be chosen by lowest rank holders in CLAT.
For all these reasons, Asansol and Siliguri would be unable to attract the best
students. A severe downfall in the quality of students at “NUJS” in toto is thus inevitable.
Limited Recruitment Opportunities
NLUs are popular among aspiring law students as they offer the unique prospect of
sufficient fixed salary jobs, offered primarily by law firms and legal departments of
companies. Indeed, this is the primary reason why NUJS, much like other premier national
law universities, attracts the best of law school aspirants every year. In many ways, this
is the primary motivation for most of our current students to have written the CLAT in the first
place.
This is firmly established by the evidence available. The recruitment figures for NUJS
in the last decade would show that its students have always preferred such opportunities.
This culture has seeped down through successive batches. Today, NUJS Kolkata is known
as a market leader when it comes to ensuring that most of its students have a good chance
of securing corporate jobs.
Given the current market dynamics, these opportunities are very limited. Most
times, even all the students from NUJS are not able to secure such jobs. More importantly,
recent trends show that the number of such jobs in the market is coming down in
comparison to earlier years. NUJS’ current recruitment figure averages around 75-80 jobs
per batch. This is proportionately at par with comparable law schools at Bangalore and

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 Hyderabad. The recruiters have a tendency to look for exclusivity in their workforce.
Consequently, a disproportionate increase in the number of students with NUJS degrees will
not lead to increase in the number of students getting jobs and will also negatively affect
prospective candidates for NUJS.
The recruiters offer far lesser jobs and differential salary packages to the younger and
less established NLUs. Barring NLSIU Bangalore, NALSAR Hyderabad, NUJS Kolkata and
NLU Jodhpur, the recruitment figures at the remaining 16 (sixteen) NLUs are next to
negligible. Even when such students secure jobs, such jobs are not well paying. The batch
sizes at these four exceptional NLUs are relatively much smaller than the other 16 (sixteen)
NLUs.
Opening up of new branches of NUJS will therefore result in a substantial fall in both
the number of jobs and overall packages offered to students from NUJS, thereby
harming the overall recruitment figures of NUJS. This will, in turn, deter prospective
students and recruiters from associating with NUJS, inevitably leading to the dilution of
student quality.
Dearth of Quality Law Faculty in India
In our recent meeting with the University Review Commission, Prof. Faizan Mustafa
pointed to the dearth of quality law educators as one of the primary inhibitors that
impede growth of NLUs. With the establishment of fifteen new NLUs and hundreds of law
schools across the length and breadth of the country in the last decade, the process of
hiring best faculty has never been more competitive. In such a scenario, there are two
primary problems that will arise upon the successful approval of this proposal:
a) the new incoming faculty who will even be amenable to going to Asansol and
Silliguri will be a loss for the current NUJS campus; and
b) regardless of such prospective faculty members for the proposed branches, the
overall faculty quality at them will struggle to be at par with the “NUJS” brand.

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 Brand Dilution
As discussed above, opening of two new campuses would inevitably lead to a severe
downfall in the quality of students at “NUJS”. This would adversely affect the present and
prospective students of the Kolkata branch. While the Asansol and Siliguri branches may
be recognised through a separate identity within the region, for all practical purposes,
students from all three branches will be recognised as belonging to one “NUJS”,
across and outside India.
In such a situation, inferior quality applications to Ivy League Universities, foreign
law firms and even domestic recruiters, as submitted by students from Asansol and
Siliguri branches, will be considered reflective of the quality of the students and
education at “NUJS” in toto and not a particular branch in specific. This is also
because these Ivy League Universities and foreign firms would be unable to understand
the nuanced differences between the Kolkata, Asansol and Siliguri branches and the
quality of their products. This will significantly dilute and tarnish the reputation as an
institution of legal excellence associated with the brand name of “NUJS” in their eyes. The
reputation attached with the name of a University such as NUJS has far-reaching
consequences on its future. Any such downfall would adversely affect the students (past,
present and prospective) of the Kolkata branch of NUJS who would now be perceived in
unfavourable light by these institutions.
All these reasons are interconnected and will domino into a catastrophic decline in the
image of NUJS in eyes of prospective aspirants, recruiters, higher education institutions
abroad and the public at large.

In light of the foregoing reasons, we strongly urge the Executive Council to account for
the concurring opinion expressed by the Sub-committee of the Academic Council and
University Review Commission (verbally during their visit in September). We sincerely hope
this Council will take the decision considering the best interests of NUJS’ primary

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 stakeholders.

Yours sincerely
(on behalf of the entire NUJS student body)

Arjun Agarwal

Samarth Sharma

President

Vice President

Student Juridical Association (2017-18)

Student Juridical Association (2017-18)

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