Why Jammu and Kashmir both deserve an NLU

The recent debate over the National Law University (NLU) in Jammu and Kashmir has created more noise than clarity. After Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced a temporary NLU campus in Budgam, Kashmir, students from the region as well as the Jammu & Kashmir High Court Bar Association raised a demand for setting up an NLU in Jammu as well.

What began as an academic decision soon turned into a regional argument.

But if we step back and read the Jammu and Kashmir National Law University Act, 2018, the controversy gets resolved. The law itself provides a clear, balanced answer - one that supports legal education in both Kashmir and Jammu, not one at the cost of the other.

The NLU Act does not say that there can be only one campus or only one location. In fact, Section 3 of the Act clearly allows the government to establish “one or more Universities” under the same law. This means that the Act fully permits more than one NLU in Jammu and Kashmir, if the government so decides.

More importantly, the Act states that while the headquarters of the University will be at a place notified by the government, the University “may establish campuses at such places as it may deem fit.” In simple terms, this means one NLU can legally function through multiple campuses in different regions.

The decision to start a temporary campus in Budgam is well within the government's powers under the Act. The law does not require the government to explain why a particular location is chosen first. It only requires that the University fulfill its objectives - providing quality legal education, promoting research and spreading legal awareness.

Kashmir, with its unique social and legal challenges, clearly falls within these objectives. From a legal point of view, the Budgam campus is completely justified under the Act.

At the same time, the demand for an NLU in Jammu is not illegal, emotional or unreasonable. Jammu has a strong legal ecosystem - the High Court bench, an active Bar, judicial institutions and thousands of aspiring law students.

The Act gives the University power to set up centres, campuses, libraries, hostels and study halls “within or outside the headquarters.” This clearly supports the case for a Jammu campus under the same University framework.

The argument that “there was no earlier demand” from Jammu has no legal value. Rights under a law do not depend on who raised a demand first. They depend on what the law allows; and the law allows both.

The NLU Act already offers sensible options to the government:

1. One NLU with campuses in both Jammu and Kashmir

2. A phased approach, starting in Kashmir and expanding to Jammu

3. More than one NLU in the future, if needed.

All these options are legal. What is not supported by the Act is turning legal education into a regional tug-of-war.

The NLU Act was drafted with flexibility and inclusion in mind. It does not favour one region over another. Its goal is to strengthen legal education across the entire Union Territory and promote constitutional values, access to justice and the rule of law.

Instead of asking Jammu or Kashmir, the better question is: how soon can Jammu and Kashmir both benefit?

The NLU Act, 2018 already provides the solution. What is needed now is political will and administrative clarity to ensure that legal education becomes a shared goal for Jammu and Kashmir, not a divided one.