By: Ibni Maqbool
Srinagar: The Jammu & Kashmir government is yet set-up the National Law University, even as the bill for the same was passed by the legislature of erstwhile state of J&K in 2018.
An official told Precious Kashmir that the proposal of setting up the Law University has been pushed into cold storage. “There has been no headway in setting up the varsity after Governor Satya Pal Malik gave assent to the bill in October 2019,” he said.
He said the Ministry of Home Affairs also made amendments in the J&K National Law University Act after reorganization of the erstwhile state of J&K into two Union Territories. “The amendments were made to bring the Law University at par with other institutions functioning in other states and union territories,” he said, adding that the Chief Minister was replaced by Chief Justice as chancellor of the University.
The proposal to establish the Law University in Jammu & Kashmir was mooted in 2015 when Syed Basharat Bukhari was Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs. A team led by Bukhari and comprising senior officials of the department including Abdul Majid Bhat & Muhammad Ashraf Mir visited different law universities to get first-hand information about their functioning. Three years later, a bill for setting up the University was introduced by Abdul Haq Khan, then Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs.
Both the Houses of J&K legislature passed the bill, despite opposition pushing for sending it to a select committee for further examination.
The proposal for setting up the varsity has its origin in the resolution moved by the All India Law Ministers Conference in mid-nineties, wherein it was resolved to set up a Law School in each state on the lines of National Law School University.
