Nagpur: With a view to monitor National Law University’s (NLU-N) progress, the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court on Wednesday admitted the PIL for its establishment for further hearing instead of disposing of it.
A division bench comprising Justices Bhushan Gavai and Murlidhar Giratkar allowed the petitioner’s counsel Sudhir Puranik and NLU lawyer Praful Khubalkar to move an application anytime, if they found any discrepancy on the government’s part in setting up the prestigious institution.
The PIL (No 57/2016) was filed by Nagpur High Court Bar Association’s (HCBA) ex-president Arun Patil, praying for early establishment of NLU in Nagpur, pending since last many years. TOI has closely tracked its development right from the day it was announced on February 6, 2011, and followed it up with a series of reports.
HC’s move came after additional chief secretary Sitaram Kunte stated in an affidavit the government had released Rs85 crore so far for NLU-N and there were plans to allot Rs5 crore every year for administrative expenses from 2018-19 to 2022-23.
Earlier, Puranik informed that NLU’s new campus at Waranga on Wardha Road would have a new building that would be a completely green one with state-of-the-art facilities for students and staff. Coming up at a cost of Rs575 crore, it would have a ‘museum of law’, which would be one of its kind in entire India, along with ‘health and wellness centre’ to help nearby villagers. It would be a world class building that would accommodate about 3,500 persons including 2,060 students, teachers and other staff.
