Spicy IP points to India Today magazine’s latest survey ranking law schools in India. This year’s results reveal the following order at the top in the overall ranking:
1. National Academy of Legal Studies & Research University (NALSAR), Hyderabad;
2. National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore;
3. Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi, Delhi;
4. National Law Institute University, Bhopal;
5. The W.B. National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata.
This year’s highlight is NALSAR’s emergence to the top spot for the first time, edging out NLSIU (that has been maintaining the honours for all but one year that India Today has been conducting the survey).
India Today’s rankings have been carried out based on a set of perceptual scores and a set of factual scores, all determined through identified parameters. The parameters are reputation of college, quality of academic input, student care, infrastructure, and job prospects. This table indicates that while NALSAR consistently ranked 2 on most counts (including perceptual) and ranked 1 on factual scores, NLSIU ranked 1 on most counts but ranked only a mere 13 on factual scores which appears to have cost it the top position. The survey explains this finding:
“Finally there is the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR), Hyderabad, which pulled off the impossible by toppling National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore, from the number one slot in the law stream.
NALSAR is a relative newcomer compared to its venerable Bangalore counterpart. Part of the reason for its triumph this year is its emphasis on providing world class infrastructure facilities that include virtual universal classrooms combined with outstanding faculty and consistency in training.
Perceptually, NLSIU may have scored top markets but it compared poorly with NALSAR in its factual ratings. So after years we have a new winner in the law category.”
Rankings aside, observations in the survey clearly imply that legal education in India has a come a long way and has caught up with other streams of education.
According to Aroon Purie Editor in Chief of India Today “Our rankings have become the benchmark for academic standards in India”. For 2008, India Today issue dated June 2, 2008 carries the India’s Best Colleges An Exclusive Survey. Page 88 of this esteemed magazine says IIT Chennai has 200 seats and Page 90 says IIT Mumbai has 312 seats. Year 2007 IIT Chennai had 540 seats and IIT Mumbai had 574 seats. This esteemed magazine did not have a clue to number of seats in various IITs and has gone about ranking them. Do you think it has any credibility? This is the type of guffa they did for BITS Pilani in year 2004 which has been undoubtedly one among the top ranking universities in India. Its time for India today to do Mouthshut.com about their rankings becoming benchmarks for academic standards in India.
Public is wondering as to why BITS Pilani does not figure in the India’s Best Colleges( Engineering) Survey reported in the recent issue of India Today magazine.
For the academic year 2004-2005 BITS Pilani admissions were based on the normalized percentage of marks and when this fact was known to everyone across the length and breadth of India, the Magazine India Today went about ranking the best colleges stating that BITS Pilani admissions were based on an entrance examination. One can easily conclude as to whose credibility is at stake in this episode.
In the case of News, one should always wait for the sacrament of confirmation. Considering that the principles of good journalism are directed toward bringing the highest quality of news reporting to the public, thus fulfilling the mission of timely distribution of information in service of public interest, it must be made known that BITS Pilani stopped participating in the India Today ranking of India’s best colleges for the years 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.
well, i think this is more of an advertisement rather than journalism…more-so-over, when these people cant even cite a university’s name correctly who will trust their ratings???
It is agreed that the standard of legal education has gone up in the recent years, as can be seen by the demand law-schoolites have within our country and without. But, the India Today rankings are not even close indicators of the actual scenario. NUJS figured in the rankings long after it had proved its worth (which its students noted in this letter found in http://www.lawentrance.com/nujs_alumni_india_today_letter.htm.
I wish there was some independent un-politicised body which can give us the real picture.
No one has any doubt that BITS Pilani is indeed one among the top ranking universities in India yesterday, India today as well as India tomorrow. If mags like India today have become rags then you know for whom it is meant for.
V.M. Salgaocar College of Law (VMSCL)Miramar Goa has been taking great strides in improving the quality of legal education and thus substantially enhancing the quality of law graduates who obtain a Law Degree from Goa University. The Education at the college is not limited to imparting of legal knowledge to the students on various legal subjects but includes a kind of legal training which could enable the students to develop the capacity for rational thinking, articulation, presentation of arguments and sensitivity to the social needs. VMSCL has one of the best libraries which any law college can possess. In fact VMSCL had the option of being one of the National Law Schools but considering the steep fees charged by the National Law Schools, the benovalent Salgaocars decided to retain its identity by maintaining a reasonable and affordable fees structure. In the times to come VMSCL will climb the charts in the ranking pages.
BANARAS HINDU UNIVERSITY ‘s Law school is best “judges college” and 3 yr ll.b college.
so it should ranked as best institution.
India Today's depiction of NUJS has been long criticised by most informed people in the legal fraternity. Anyone coversant with the state of Indian law schools knows that NUJS is definitely one of the best, judged from all parameters including faculty, student quality and recruitment. However, none of these have ever been reflected in the India Today rankings, which point to their flawed survey techniques.