After serving as Director of the Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar for a decade, Dr. Bimal Patel has come to the end of his second term at the helm.

Consequently, GNLU is in the process of finding a replacement for Dr. Patel. As per the GNLU Act, a Director shall hold office for a term of five years, after which he is eligible for re-appointment for another five years. The University has put out a notification seeking applications for the post of Director.

It is understood that Dr. Patel will continue to perform the duties of Director until his successor is appointed. In an email to Bar & Bench, he wrote,

“My second term as the Director ended on 2 November 2018. As per the GNLU Regulations, the Executive Council has constituted a Search Committee for the appointment of Director and asked me to continue in office until my successor is appointed.

I can say that pursuit of excellence has been achieved by the hard-work, honesty, sincerity and team-work till today and will continue till last working day as the Director.”

Dr. Patel was appointed as Director of GNLU in November 2008. He holds an LL.M. and a PhD from the University of Leiden, Netherlands. He is also a member of several committees set up by the State and Central governments. He served as a part-time member of the Law Commission of India from 2015-18.

Read our 2012 interview with Dr. Bimal Patel here.