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The Uttarakhand High Court has ordered the State to establish a completely functional National Law University (NLU), within 3 months. It has also ordered the State to run the NLU through government buildings or hired private accommodation till the construction of the campus is complete.
The State has been directed by the Bench comprising Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Lok Pal Singh, to start the first academic session in September this year. The construction of the campus is expected to begin in District Udham Singh Nagar, where government owns land measuring upto 1800 acres.
The Court has further directed the State to formulate Regulations under the National Law University of Uttarakhand Act, 2011, within a month, and make all necessary appointments to the NLU based on these regulations.
The Court was hearing two petitions, pointing out that despite enactment of the 2011 Act, an NLU has not been established in the State - one by Dr. Bhupal Singh Bhakuni and another by Dr. Mahendra Singh Pal. The authorities, in response to the petitions, pointed out that the Act provided for establishment of the head office of the NLU at Bhowali, Nainital. However, unavailability of land required certain amendments in the Act to proceed.
The court has noted that sufficient land was available in the District Udham Singh Nagar. The State was bashed by the court for delaying the establishment of the NLU due to lack of will. The court further said that the State did not establish the NLU despite the enactment of the legislation way back in 2011, blaming the State for Red Tapism. State’s lethargy has resulted in a loss to the deserving students of the State who have been deprived of standard legal education under NLU, the court said.
The State submitted that funds had to be gathered for establishing the NLU, to which, the Court shot back saying that it was the State’s responsibility to address this concern and gather funds. The Court directed Mr. Bahuguna, Senior Advocate, who came forward to pay Rs. 1 Lakh for creating a corpus for running the University, to collect donations from members of the Bar, Judges as well as the public at large, after opening a separate fund for collecting such donations.
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