NLU Uttarakhand to be set up as 23rd National Law University of India

NEW DELHI, MARCH 6: The ‘Devabhumi’ (Land of Gods), will soon be getting its own National Law University even as the state’s Chief Minister had laid the foundation stone for NLU Uttarakhand at Ranipokhari, a small hamlet in the Dehradun district.

The country’s youngest NLU will be located 50 kms away from Dehradun city. The National Law University Uttarakhand will be the 23^rd NLU to function after 21 NLUs of CLAT and NLU Delhi.

If media reports are to be believed, the NLU Uttarakhand spanning over 10 acres of land will be set up at a cost of Rs 26 crore.

The establishment of 23^rd NLU of India

The National Law University Uttarakhand will be established in accordance with Section 3 of the NLU (Uttarakhand) Act, 2011. In June last year, the Uttarakahand High Court had directed the State Government to set up an NLU in the state within three months, which however got delayed.

The delay in establishment of 23^rd NLU of India

The National Law University of Uttarakhand was expected to be set up by September 2018 as per the High Court’s order, which however got delayed due to a number of reasons. The Uttarakhand NLU was to be established at Bhowali, Nainital, however the proposed area didn’t have adequate land for the establishment, which made the state authorities to move the NLU site to Pant Nagar of District Udham Singh Nagar, initially.

However, the second proposed NLU Uttarakhand site too was not finalised, before finally choosing Ranipokhari as the establishment area for NLU Uttarakhand.

While the Uttarakhand NLU Act has been chartered in 2011, the state is finally looking forward to get an NLU after eight years. Even as the High Court had earlier directed to kick-start the admission process by September 2018, this is yet unclear as to when the NLU Uttarakhand will start operating.

The country had Madhya Pradesh Dharmashastra National Law University (MPDNLU) Jabalpur as its 22^nd NLU, which started operating in July last year and is now a part of CLAT.