The forgotten NLU: The politics of deliberate denial

The dream of giving law students a chance to go to the National Law University (NLU) has not yet been realised by the State of Uttarakhand over the course of 15 years. The step taken by the legislature on April 21, 2011 in terms of passing the Uttarakhand National Law University Act, 2011 has yet to be realised.

On June 19, 2018, the High Court of Uttarakhand passed certain definite directions for the establishment of a National Law University and its functioning.

The Court directed the State to ensure that it is established within three months, start its operations from temporary premises, complete the process of admission for the academic session till September 2018, frame regulations as per law and recruit teaching faculty within a definite period.

However, the last decade-and-a-half has seen delay and inaction on the part of the administration and failure to adhere to judicial directions.

2011 to 2018

In Uttarakhand, the main reason cited by the State government not to build an NLU was that it had failed to find land for the institution. The 2011 Act had specified that Bhowali, Nainital would be the site for the University, but by November 2013, even the State's own officers were reporting that 10 acres were not available in Bhowali.

After the rejection of available Bhowali land, the University was then proposed to be arranged in Pant Nagar (Udham Singh Nagar district). In order to complete the shift, the 2011 Act needed to be amended and a request for land was sent by the State to GB Pant University. On December 26, 2013, GB Pant University refused to provide land to the State without any stated reason.

The State continued to delay the establishment of the University as it held meetings and formed committees to identify possible sites over a period of two years. Many other locations were suggested, including Patwadangar, Jeolikote, Bhowali (TB Sanatorium) and numerous parcels of land owned by the Mandi Parishad. The State also owned more than 1,500 acres of land in Udham Singh Nagar because of ongoing land acquisition efforts, but this too eventually fell through.

Regardless, the State would not concede that land was missing. On examination of the requirements, the Court found that only a total of ten acres was required for the project. It was clear that the absence of land was not the significant issue, but rather the absence of action taken by the State to build the University. The delays prompted the Court to take steps to have the University created with specific deadlines for compliance.

Foundation stone laying at Ranipokhari (March 3, 2019)

On March 3, 2019, the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand laid the foundation stone for NLU Uttarakhand at the new location in Ranipokhari. He announced that he had complied with a requirement for an extension of time to complete the project, which had already had a three-month extension.

This event was also proclaimed as a signal that construction of NLU Uttarakhand would commence shortly and that the State government would issue a budget of ₹26 crore to fund the construction on approximately ten acres of land.

The announcement was made while applications for an extension of time were still pending before the Court as well. In addition, the Court had previously ordered that the State must provide additional evidence to support its request for an extension of time by filing an affidavit with the Court within three months. However, as of February 27, 2019 the State had failed to provide any information to the Court regarding its compliance with its prior orders.

On March 29, 2019, the Uttarakhand High Court issued a decision stating that the State government's failure to create an NLU is a direct result of decision to ignore the directive issued on June 19, 2018. It stated that the construction should occur "preferably in Tarai area including District Udham Singh Nagar" where approximately 1,800 acres of government land have been registered as being owned by the State. The Court noted that only ten acres were necessary to establish the university and by locating the University within the Tarai Belt, the High Court (which is in proximity to Nainital) would be in a better position to monitor the development of the University and its students.

However, the State, on February 13, 2019, issued an official notification stating that the University would be located in Ranipokhari, far from either the High Court or the Tarai area. The State did not consult with either the Visitor (the Chief Justice of India) or the Chancellor (the Chief Justice of the Uttarakhand High Court) before issuing the notification.

The State subsequently provided a post-facto copy to the Registrar General. The filing of an affidavit in support of two time extension applications did not disclose any of the steps that taken to assess or utilise the land holdings of 1,800 acres at Udham Singh Nagar.

The Court noted there was "not a single one of the directions noted above taken" and that the location selection for Dehradun was a clear breach of the prior order without either applying for a review or modification.

When the State requested an additional year to begin the course with Bar Council of India (BCI) recognition, the High Court rejected the request as simply another attempt to avoid contempt action. The inaction of the State on the land option specifically identified, coupled with the completion of the original three-month deadline (September 19, 2018), clearly provided no further basis for indulgence. As a result, both extension applications were dismissed and the Court reviewed its prior decisions with respect to the State's discretionary right to select locations in a manner inconsistent with the directions of the judiciary.

Since 2011, Uttarakhand has created several public and private universities, including the Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali Uttarakhand University of Horticulture & Forestry (2011), the Sri Dev Suman Uttarakhand University (2012) and many private universities like Graphic Era Hill University, DIT University, Uttaranchal University and others in Dehradun and Roorkee.

However, the NLU remains unbuilt. In contrast, NLUs in other hilly states are fully functioning and providing quality legal education. For example, the Himachal Pradesh NLU has been serving students since 2016 with continual operations, while NLUs in Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura are also operational. Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has several ongoing proposals and demands for dedicated NLUs.

The sole reason for the successive delays in starting the NLU in Uttarakhand is the lack of State government action over time on the issue. Completing this project has been made impossible by numerous successive governments that have refused to address judicial mandates concerning the location of the NLU in Tarai/Udham Singh Nagar. There has been no movement toward any type of physical construction since 2019. Designated land for use by the NLU has been diverted for other purposes, turning this statutory promise into a 15-year-old project that has met with bureaucratic inaction and apathy by political officials.

The delays in establishing the NLU have created significant voids in employment for the youth, researchers and workers in Uttarakhand. Law students are forced to migrate to distant NLUs or private colleges in Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Lucknow, resulting in financial expense while lost opportunities exist to study/work locally. Therefore, qualified researchers and faculty have been drawn away to other NLUs, creating a significant shortage of highly skilled researchers and teaching faculty in Uttarakhand.

15 years after enacting legislation and over 7 years after judicial directions were passed, the NLU at Uttarakhand remains an unfulfilled promise. At this point in time, the issue cannot be treated merely as an administrative problem.

The delay in establishing the NLU at Uttarakhand is an indictment of institutional neglect. At the time the National Law University of Uttarakhand Act was passed in 2011, the country had very few NLUs. If it had been set up relatively on time, the NLU would likely have been one of India's top 15 NLUs today. The question remains: what is causing the delay in setting up the NLU?

Nishant Rawat is an Assistant Professor and Isha Sharma is a second-year law student at at Lloyd Law College.