Hi Nandini,

This is a very real and painful question, and I can only offer some insights on why this is the case.

Primarily, a reason that is accepted by us is that the NLUs lack sufficient funding from the government. With no recognition as institutes of national importance, it seems evident that NLUs are struggling to keep up their standards and use this excuse to justify the high fees. Most of them are still at a developing stage and hence the fees also include building fund etc as a constituent element. Law books are also very expensive and maintenance of library requires a large amount of money.

Another reason is that, it has a demand side dimension as well. One look at the backgrounds of students who get into NLUs shows you that they do not have any doubts about paying the fees. At least not as significantly as to stop them from joining one. Thus, the problems associated with high fees have so far never been considered to be mainstream problems for law students. The few voices that did protest were brushed aside quoting the placement figures at the top NLUs.