MNLU Mumbai in new campus in 2 years

Established in 2014 as the country's 18th National Law University (NLU), Maharashtra NLU, Mumbai, has emerged as one of the most sought-after legal education institutes in the country.

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The institute, however, is yet to get a permanent campus, thanks to the space crunch in the country's most populous city, and is still operating from the Centre for Excellence in Telecom Technology and Management (CETTM) building at Powai.

In this interaction with Musab Qazi, the MNLU Mumbai vice chancellor Dilip Ukey speaks about the university's unique programmes, new courses in the pipeline, financial limitations at NLUs and more. Edited excerpts:

Q. NLUs were established with an objective of improving standards of legal education in the country. How successful has this project been?

A. I think it has been fairly successful. Earlier, only traditional and orthodox subjects prescribed by the Bar Council of India were being offered at traditional university-affiliated law colleges.

NLUS made academic progress and flexibility possible, with courses in artificial intelligence (AI), marine law and other emerging areas being offered.

They have also ensured a balance of quality and inclusivity through high-level filtering of the entrance exam, while having social and domicile reservations.

Q. What has MNLU Mumbai achieved till date and in what aspects does it stand out in comparison to other NLUs and law colleges?

A. When the academic courses began in 2015 at MNLU Mumbai, we had BA LLB and regular LLM. But we realised there was no point in offering what other colleges were offering. Hence, we decided to come out with some new courses.