Waste of resources Pune Law School is built at a cost of Rs 4 crore with no sight of commencement

DNA reports that the ambitious plan of the University of Pune to start a law school on the lines of the National Law School (NLS) is yet to see the light of the day.. A four-storey building, constructed at a cost of about Rs. 4 crore ($880,000) for the proposed institute is ready, the varsity’s law department is clueless about when the school will become functional. The head of department of law of the UoP, Sureshchandra Bhosale, told DNA that the curriculum and infrastructure for the law school are ready. “But I am unaware as to when it will start functioning,” he said, claiming he is not aware why the varsity management has not taken the decision so far. The UoP had initiated the process of setting up the law school in 2009 after the state government decided to shift the NLS from Pune to Aurangabad. But by the time the state government took its decision, the construction of the building for the NLS on the UoP premises had already started. The UoP then decided to have its own law school, where the curriculum would differ from that at the UoP’s 23 law colleges. According to UoP sources, the new curriculum offers insight into the Indian judiciary, unlike other national law universities where students prefer the lucrative corporate field. “The law school’s course is a composite one. Every student would have to focus on research. A five-year course will be offered after the higher secondary school examination,” the sources added. A senate member of the UoP, Milind Wagh, said he is not aware of the fate of the law school. “But in the past the UoP decided to start engineering and pharmacy courses, but later shelved the plans. The proposed law school could also meet the same fate,” he said..Currently UoP has 16 Law Colleges including the likes of ILS..This brings us to the debate about the need for more law schools vs the need to better the infrastructure and teaching standards at the existing law schools. Recently, students from the CNLU protested against poor recruitment this year. Law Minister, Veerappa Moily in his speech late last year said he wanted to establish one law school in each state..Most may agree that instead of spending resources on establishing newer law schools, the quality of infrastructure and education has to be upgraded in the existing law schools..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.