National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi

The group of institutions collectively known as the National Law Universities (NLUs) now number over twenty. Most of them recruit students using the CLAT (Common Law Admission Test) scores. This is considered the flagship exam, which gives entry to some of the finest Law colleges in the country. The competition for this is immense. The test includes 200 objective type multiple choice questions to be answered within a maximum time limit of 120 minutes. These 200 questions are divided into Legal Aptitude and GK hogging half the total share with 50 questions each. English and Reasoning are worth 40 each while math which is quite elementary is worth 20. For every wrong answer, a fourth of negative marks gets deducted. Success in this exam, opens the door towards some of the best national law colleges (NLUs). In spite of the ‘national’ tag associated with the NLUs, they remain state universities. CLAT is also one of the few law entrances that were conducted on online mode, but has now reverted to the offline avatar. 

For long, law lagged behind several other professional and degree courses when it came to prestige and career opportunities, but now, thanks to the NLUs, it is considered a top career choice. With the opening up of the economy, law grads can now take up careers in corporate law, international agencies, NGOs, Legal Process Outsourcing (LPOs) firms and academics, besides the conventional careers centres around litigation and the judiciary. This was the reason for the launch of the five- year integrated programmes by the NLUs which can be taken up by students immediately after completion of their school. 

National University of Study and Research in Law (NUSRL) in Ranchi was established in the year 2010. It is built on a total area of around 64 acres worth land in the state of Jharkhand. Courses are available here at the NUSRL right from the UG till doctoral levels. At the UG level, the flagship five- year integrated programme BA LLB is offered. The LLB of course is the standard degree offered to Common Law countries’ legal study graduates. At the master’s level, the LLM is offered here. It is a one- year programme offered by the Centre of Post Graduate Legal Studies. Doctoral programmes may also be pursued here. The library here is one of the best stocked within the region. Besides the physical books on display, it also provides digital access to en number of international academic journals for research and academic purposes.

The institute is also a leader when it comes to legal research. For this purpose, specific centres of excellence have been created to facilitate the same. There are centres here for the areas of – Legal Aid Programme, Environment & Animal Protection, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Child Rights, Criminal Law and for Human Rights. The last of them is with the NGO – Defenders Advocating for You. In addition, several endowments have also been received by the institute. They have been in different areas of study such as for Jurisprudence, Constitutional Law, Law of Torts, Family Law, Law of Taxation and the Law of Contracts besides in others. The endowment sources have been the likes of- Motilal Modi Memorial, Sitaram Jhunjhunwala Memorial, Bansidhar Modi Memorial, Sm.t Parvati devi Memorial and from quite a few others. A lot of the research that takes place at the NUSRL gets published in their own in- house journals. The best known of them is the NUSRL Journal of Law and Policy. Several newsletters are also published by the team here. 

There is a thriving student life here at the campus. Student activities are controlled by the various committees and societies formed here. Some of the key committees here are those for – Moot Court, Library, IT and Cultural. There is also the Board for Regulation of Sports. There are co-curricular Societies for International Law and Constitutional Law. Another is the ISBN. It is the Initiative by Students for Books in NUSRL. As the name suggests, it is a society for the promotion of a book- reading culture. Another initiative is the NUSRL through the Lenses. Cultural programmes are organized throughout the year. Cricket and football leagues are played here with competing teams formed within. More serious events such as seminars and moot courts are also held frequently. 

All this has helped the NUSRL be placed extremely high across all ranking platforms. The Careers 360 magazine, for instance, has placed the institute at rank 20th all over India among law colleges with an AAA+ rating. This, in turn, has fueled excellent placements on campus. Some of the key recruiters in recent seasons have been the likes of – Wipro, L&T Finance, Eastern Book Company, Athena Law, Luthra & Luthra, Khaitan & Co., Hari Global Advisors, Hindustan Times, CIL, Help Age India, SAIL, Tata Steel, NMDC, YMCA, Clasis Law, Atman Law, Amicus Publico, KT Associates, CRY, AISEC and several others.