STUDYING HERE

Studying at NALSAR, much like the study of law in general, teaches critical thinking, cogent argumentation, adherence and irreverence to rules when appropriate and never forgetting the context in which law functions. Be it through the relentless removal of rose-tinted glasses of naive undergraduate first years, the legal-context-sensitive management studies programme, or the individual-interest-centric post-graduate programmes, it teaches that law can be all-pervasive without being omnipotent.

This gets reflected in the way academic as well non-academic activity is handled. The mandatory is balanced with the negotiable; the rigorous with the relaxed. There is ample freedom to allow students to pursue activities that they are passionate about, and ample guidance should they feel lost. The methodical madness of academic rigour seamlessly gives way to the chaotic madness of sheer unbridled fun. The same classrooms where students sweat it out while writing exams become halls where Pop Culture quizzes are conducted and the same students test their knowledge of Harry Potter or whatever fictional universe suits their fancy. Oh, and there are also courses that allow exploration of the legal dimensions of those universes.

Most prominently, the campus brims over with students who are willing to take charge of their learning; who are determined to extract something of significance from every situation. And this is how the same pavement where people shoot the breeze or enjoy the rain while sipping tea or coffee also becomes a forum where fierce, profound and knowledgeable discussions about gender and sexuality take place. Learning happens, then, sometimes unconscious, sometimes deliberate, but always valuable and worthwhile. Even those who stand back and observe don’t remain unaffected by the experience of watching the diversity at play.

Because of its secluded location, away from the hustle of city life, one would be justified in thinking that the campus would be a desolate place. But over time, it has become a microcosm of sorts, buzzing with activity and sometimes overwhelming in its sheer vibrancy. And the focus on student welfare ensures that they have everything they need: from medical care to counselling, since both the study of law and college life in general can be an emotionally erratic experience.

Life here, then, thrums with things that can be captured in words and things that cannot. The former, will be attempted; the latter, needs to be experienced to be understood.

The University rules are being redrafted in consultation with students and faculty, in order to bring them in consonance with the new academic system and the changing ethos of NALSAR. They will be uploaded once finalised.

About NALSAR ADR

The NALSAR ADR Board was constituted as an extended arm of the Academic committee to promote interest in ADR methods given its current relevance to the legal profession. The Board was established in 2015 as an initiative to develop a culture of ADR in NALSAR that enables skill-development and helps us compete at the national and international level. The Board, being in its nascent stage, is going to be crucial in establishing a strong foundation for such an ethos. One of the essential functions of the Board, inter alia, is to conduct workshops/ training sessions/guest lectures for students of NALSAR with the help of resource persons who have experience in ADR methods.

Feel free to contact us at adrcommittee@nalsar.ac.in(link sends e-mail) You can also drop us a message on our Fb page(link is external). We would love to hear from you.

Constitutional Law Society

The Constitutional Law Society was established in 2004 by a few committed students, under the guidance of Prof.Dr. B. Errabi. The Constitutional Law Society, has, over the decade continued to contribute towards groundbreaking interdisciplinary scholarship in Comparative Constitutional Law and Constitutional Theory on campus. Earlier events have included the Basic Structure Debates, held in 2008 where Senior Counsel. Raju Ramachandran and prominent constitutional scholar SudhirKrishnaswamy engaged in scholarly debates with the students were. The CLS also organises the monthly Constitutional Law Debates, a series of debates wherein members of the faculty and students argue on contemporary questions of Constitutional Theory.

The Constitutional Law Society publishes the Indian Journal of Constitutional Law, one of India’s most prominent Constitutional Law journals with publications from noted scholars across the world.

The CLS Facebook page can be accessed here(link is external).

Drama Club

Drama Club meetings are always interesting as each Drama Night sees a few members of the club declaiming their monologues based on a pre-decided theme. There are various drama exercises that are conducted such as ad-libbing as well as improvisation and dramatic readings. In 2012, the Drama Club put up a production titled “Turbulent Times” which was later showcased NALSAR’s official entry at the annual theatre festival hosted by NLSIU.

Gender and Sexuality Forum (GSF)

The GSF, as it functions today, was revived in 2009 and what started off as a small group of interested students, bloomed into a student organisation with significant campus influence. It has helped NALSAR become one of the most liberal, open campuses in India, where students and on-campus faculty members freely discuss issues across the spectrum of sexuality, and the modalities of gender constructs that pervade society. The GSF has, in the past, organised protests surrounding rights of the LGBTQ community, such as the 2010 protest against an eminent news network that sought to air footage that violated peoples’ privacy. This yielded an unconditional apology from the network as well as revoking of the footage. The GSF also actively hosts public discussions and panel discussions, the most recent being on the Suresh Kumar Koushal judgment by the Supreme Court. It also screens movies, the most recent being the Saudi Arabian film Wadjda, which add to the conversation surrounding issues of gender and sexuality.

While the forum takes its agenda seriously, it believes strongly that open thinking about our own identities can only happen in a fun-filled and inclusive environment; hence it has no organisational structure and is open to everyone on campus sparking off any discussion or activity that is of interest. In the past, this has included frank conversations about body image, heated discussions on what one should do about rape humour and ‘bring a friend’ meetings designed to discuss feminism and its vilification.

For vibrant discussions online, visit the GSF Facebook group(link is external).

International Law Society (NILS)

The NALSAR International Law Society was a student initiative that was founded four years ago, and has been registered with the International Law Students Association (ILSA) for the past year. The NILS organises movie screenings followed by discussions on recent international affairs, the most recent being a screening of Captain Phillips, post which a discussion on piracy took place. Further, essay competitions to increase interest in international law issues, as well as talks and discussions by international legal scholars on different dimensions of international law, such as on International Criminal Law, by practitioners at the ICTY, are also conducted by NILS.

The NILS Facebook page can be accessed here(link is external).

Music Appreciation Club

The idea behind the music appreciation club is to collectively expand our individual music taste by sharing music with each other. What we do when we meet is listen to a playlist of a certain genre and then engage in discussion on the theoretical, historical, social context of the music or simple reflection on how we think it sounds. The NALSAR student body has proved to be an invaluable reservoir of eclectic musical interests.

The music appreciation club is most exciting on Facebook(link is external), where it has become a site for student interaction with alumni, as well as a site of musical experimentation.

Photo Booth NALSAR (PBN)

PBN, a memory repository (and source of Facebook profile pictures for most NALSAR students) is an image archive of life as lived in NALSAR. Run by a group of dedicated photographers, and friends who sometimes chip in, PBN has found a fond (and firm) place in the NALSAR vocabulary.

PBN operates only on Facebook, and can be accessed here(link is external).

Tech Law Forum (TLF)

The NALSAR Tech Law Forum was founded in 2007 and was recently resurrected in light of the rapidly changing nature of technology around us, and the pervasiveness of the same. We find ourselves constantly using technology and the TLF seeks to explore the ramifications of this, as well as the politics of being constantly connected, and whether or not it is possible or desirable to disconnect. Further, the TLF seeks to understand the merging of different disciplines so as to understand the effect that technology has on us in this era of digital natives, and how the law can or cannot serve as a regulatory mechanism for the same. The TLF has held various meetings on campus, to discuss these issues and has various activities planned for the remainder of the semester. It also screens movies on contemporary issues like TPB AFK, a film on the founders of PirateBay and the criminal action taken against them in light of piracy concerns.

For constant updates and cutting-edge discussions with alumni and present students, visit the TLF Facebook group(link is external).
 

While the academic rigours of NALSAR have often been talked about, what defines it is the holistic experience that it imparts. NALSAR nurtures a close-knit and highly inclusive community, and allows spaces for it to develop. It understands education as a function not only of the narrow confines of classrooms, but of the manner in which its students perceive and interact with the world. This is why NALSAR ensures that its students learn and grow in multiple spheres in the time they spend here. This segment is dedicated to the essential experiences of a NALSAR student outside the classroom.

At NALSAR we recognise the importance of internships and placements in shaping the careers of our students. We have partnered with both leading as well as upcoming organisations where legal skills developed in law school can be tested and honed by our students. In the previous years, top tier law firms and niche firms—both Indian and International—corporate houses, Public Sector Undertakings, regulatory bodies have regularly recruited from NALSAR. Our vision is not only about continuing and strengthening the relationship with our existing recruiters whilst striving to expand our recruitment base by also forging conversations with organisations and people who have not recruited before. In doing so, our aim is to cater to the diverse interests of our students by reaching out to not merely corporate entities and law firms but also to legal practitioners, law and policy research organisations and also various fellowships.

Undergraduate

Campus placement at NALSAR is largely managed by a body of students with each outgoing batch electing its own Recruitment Co-ordination Committee (RCC). The students who subscribe to the RCC contribute to its funds for financing its activities. The RCC liaisons with the existing and prospective recruiters based on the interests of its subscribers. That NALSAR has consistently managed to place all its students is a matter of pride for us, something we shall continue to strive for. This, without doubt, is a result of the collaborative efforts of the administration, the faculty, the RCC and other students as well who have come together to ensure successful placements at NALSAR.

The NALSAR RCC can be contacted through email at: rcc2023@nalsar.ac.in(link sends e-mail) and through phone at: Pranav Mihir Kandada: +91 95151 05233, Tanay Goyal: +91 94611 57151  for placements, internships, and other recruitment-related matters.

Postgraduate (Law)

Masters courses at NALSAR are crafted to help our students acquire advanced, specialised legal training and equipping them to work in a multinational legal environment. The one year Masters degree has been laid out to include a rigorous course work, seminar presentation and dissertation work along with the opportunity to do winter internship. In the previous years, LL.M students have shown highest level of expertise and been placed in top tier law firms, corporate houses, Public Sector Undertakings and even academic institutions.

Campus recruitment is managed by LL.M recruitment coordination committee (LRCC) which is a student body nominated/elected from among the students who wish to join the recruitment process. The aim of the committee is to cater to the varied interests of students coming with different specialisations branches like Corporate Laws, International trade & business laws and IPR.

The continuous association with the existing and future recruiters backed by a strong network of alumni across various organizations has helped in maintaining a remarkable track record of campus placements for LL.M students.

TThe NALSAR LRCC can be contacted through email at: llmrcc@nalsar.ac.in(link sends e-mail) and through phone at: +91 8247772820 (Khaja Shereen, Head of the Committee), +91 89306 33234 (Abhishek Jain, Treasurer of the Committee) and +91 97111 27135 (Sanya Khurana, Member of the Committee)  for placements, internships, and other recruitment-related matters.

Postgraduate (Business Administration)

Corporate interaction and exposure being an integral part of the curriculum, a large platform is provided to the students through a whole gamut of events round the year. The Centre for Management Studies, NALSAR keeps a close link with different organisations which has also helped in the making the course more dynamic and in tune with the requirements and aspirations of the Industry. Internships are a vital ingredient to the whole scheme of two year MBA course structure and thereby every student has to mandatorily do three internships in the span of two years (2 Winter Internships, 1 Summer Internship) which again is an added advantage of MBA course at NALSAR in comparison to other B-schools in the country.

Internships are managed by the MBA Internship co-ordination committee and is managed and funded by the students themselves. The Internship committee converts into Recruitment co-ordination committee in the second year. The committee is guided by a full time faculty coordinator and it is the result of concerted effort of the students and administration that in the very first year of its inception, MBA students have received tremendous response and acceptability from the industry. Internship committee was able to generate internship offers for all the students. Apart from a few international offers the batch received offers from many start – ups and well established companies. CMS is certain to receive similar response in the Recruitment process.

Shelby Foote is often quoted as having said that “[a] university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library.” The library, in NALSAR forms the intellectual core of the institution. Given the stress laid on self-learning and discovery through research, in the University, it is, undeniably, a vital space.

The NALSAR Law Library is one of the largest law libraries in the country, not just in terms of the number of titles, but in terms of capacity as well. The library is a host to more than 30,000 titles covering various fields of study ranging from law to social sciences. Subscriptions have been made to more than 100 newspapers, magazines and journals. The reference section of the library stocks complete volume sets of the most prestigious and well known journals and compilations in the field of law. The library has subscribed to various online databases such as WestLaw, HeinOnline, Kluwer Arbitration, Manupatra, SCC Online, Economic and Political Weekly, JStor, etc.

The Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) is a real-time updated internal database which enables users to search the library’s collection and guides them to precise locations. The internal database of the library can be accessed from anywhere.

The library is currently in the process of creating a proposal for obtaining access to case records at the various levels of the Indian judicial system and is seeking to generate an oral archive of testimonies surrounding landmark legal developments—cases, legislations or law reform initiatives.

Working hours are 9 AM to 1 AM on weekdays; 9 AM to 8 PM on Saturdays; and 9 AM to 5 PM on Sundays. Books can be issued by the holders of library cards on the weekdays.

To access online databases please click here