DR.

RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, LUCKNOW

LAW AND EDUCATION

FINAL DRAFT
On
A TRIBUTE TO N. R. MADHAVA MENON- THE FATHER OF MODERN LEGAL
EDUCATION IN INDIA

SUBMITTED TO – DR. SHASHANK SHEKHAR

ASSISTANT PROFFESSOR (LAW)

SUBMITTED BY – PRAVESH SHRIMAL

ROLL NO. – 180101103, SEC: B

SEMESTER - X

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
A project report usually falls short of its expectations until and unless aided and
guided by the right people at the right time. I humbly state that that this paper is not the fruit
of my individual efforts but of a number of people who guided me throughout the span of this
project.

First of all, I would like to express my sense of thankfulness towards our Faculty of
Law, Dr. Shashank Shekhar who has taken a keen interest in the preparation of this paper
and has constantly guided me. Besides this I would like to thank our library and college staffs
for co-operating with me in preparing this project and help me locate the necessary materials
required for the preparing this project, even in these unexpected times.

Last but not the least; I would like to thank all my friends for their co-operation and
for encouraging me at every step.

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 Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................4

Who was N.R. Madhava Menon?..............................................................................................4

His legal education and early career.......................................................................................5

What impacts did he bring to the National Law Schools?.........................................................5

Formation of NLSIU..............................................................................................................5

What challenges did Prof. Menon face while making NLSIU a success story?....................6

Impact of NLSIU....................................................................................................................6

Formation of Fourth Law School...........................................................................................7

Prof. Menon- The Pioneer of five years integrated law course..................................................7

What other contributions did he make to the legal field in India?.............................................8

Formation of National Judicial Academy...............................................................................8

Introduction of Clinical education in law schools..................................................................9

What did he contribute to the legal literature?...........................................................................9

Legal Education......................................................................................................................9

Judiciary...............................................................................................................................10

What suggestions did he have for improving the modern legal education system?................10

Why will he always be remembered?......................................................................................12

References................................................................................................................................14

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 Introduction

When for the first time I read that Prof. N.R. Madhava Menon has passed away, I glanced at
the headline like a usual obituary post and did not even care to read it fully. But, then the
internet and social media were flooded with posts talking about him, remembering him and
thanking him.

I was attending Dr. Arghya Sengupta’s book launch and panel discussion on “Independence
and Accountability of the Indian Judiciary” where again the same name popped up. Dr.
Sengupta dedicated his book to two persons and one of them was this eminent personality
who dedicated his whole life to uplift the standards of the legal education system and career
in the legal field. On the panel, Dr. Aparna Chandra, who was also an alumnus of National
Law School of India University, Bangalore along with Prof. Sengupta, remembered Prof.
Menon. She very briefly shared about his teaching methodology, his enthusiasm, him being
an inspiration to his students and many other emotions which cannot be expressed in the
words here.

All this made me realise exactly what loss we had incurred with the death of Prof. Menon. He
was not just the father of modern legal education in India but more than that, he was a great
personality and a good human being. This degree of B.A.LL.B and all the dreams attached to
it, all of this is only possible today because of Prof. Menon. Though he would not have cared
if I had dedicated a post to him, I’m writing it as an obligation and duty on behalf of all the
law students who owe to him due to various reasons which I have discussed in this article.

Who was N.R. Madhava Menon?

Neelkanta Ramkrishna Madhava Menon was a prominent lawyer and educator in India. He is
known as the father of modern legal education in India due to all the great achievements he
made in the field of law. He spent his whole life in bringing the legal education in India to the
global standards. In 2003, the Government of India honoured him with India’s fourth highest
civilian award, Padma Shri due to all the contributions he made for elevating the status of
modern legal education in India. He was also awarded the Living Legend of Law award by
the International Bar Association for restructuring the legal profession and Indian Legal
Education. He was also a major contributor in establishing corporate law firms in India.

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His legal education and early career

Menon was not in the career of law from the beginning. He pursued and finished his degree
of B.Sc. in Zoology in 1953. After pursuing his B.Sc, he decided to choose law for further
studies. He opted for Bachelor of Law (B.L.) from Government Law College, Ernakulam but
shifted to Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram from where he completed his
degree in 1955.

After completion of his B.L. degree, for thirteen months Prof. Menon served as an apprentice
to V. Nagappan Nair who was a famous lawyer in Kerala. At the early age of 20, he started
his litigation career and got enrolled in the Kerala High Court in 1956. In 1957, he cleared the
Civil Services Examination and joined the Central Secretariat in New Delhi. Along with his
job, he got enrolled in M.A. in Political Science from Punjab University.

After completion of M.A., Prof. Menon continued LL.M. and also gained a UGC scholarship
from which he continued research on white-collar crime. He was the first person who
completed a Ph.D. from faculty of law of Aligarh Muslim University. While pursuing his
Ph.D., he also worked as a part-time teacher and warden of Sir Syed Hall University. In 1960,
he started teaching at the Aligarh Muslim University and left the university in 1965 to join
the Delhi University. In Delhi University, he worked as a professor and inspired students to
explore more in the field of law. He became an example for his students for multitasking as,
during his stay at Delhi University, he also served as the Head of Campus Law Centre,
principal of Government Law College Pune and Secretary of the Bar Council of India Trust.
While serving as the principal of Government Law College Pune, he drew the ideas of doing
away with the old degrading and rotten education system. And, with the execution of all
those ideas, he won the title of father of modern legal education in India.

What impacts did he bring to the National Law Schools?

Formation of NLSIU

Prof. Menon was one of the greatest institution builders. His greatest initiative was to build
the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), the first National Law University of
India. The formation of this institution was a very new and real idea at the same time a great
risk. The idea worked and NLSIU flourished and marked the beginning of a new era for the
modern legal education system. NLSIU changed the earlier scenario by bringing new
standards in the legal education system and opening the ways for the formation of subsequent
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National Law Universities. Now, there are 21 National Law Universities for which the
formation of NLSIU served as a pillar in the Indian legal education system. Under the
leadership of Prof. Menon, in NLSIU, B.A.LL.B program was initiated which replaced the
earlier three year LLB course to be pursued after graduation.

What challenges did Prof. Menon face while making NLSIU a success story?

At that time, there was unavailability of substantive aid to bring and continue such an
institution due to the absence of any stable public source of funding. Prof. Menon changed
impossible into possible by making a self-sustaining public educational institution. He raised
a variety of resources so that the institution could continue to function without any external
fund.

There was a requirement for an outstanding faculty that could meet the standards of
education. He formed a committed faculty. He encouraged faculty to engage and
communicate more with the students. He kept himself open to the students and was always
ready to engage, discuss, debate, contest and argue. Prof. Menon successfully overcame the
challenges of study materials, teaching methods and performance assessment with dedication,
experimentation and innovation.

Another challenge which he faced was to balance the education imparted in the institution.
He never wanted his students to limit themselves to only academic education but also to
understand the technical concepts of law and acquire skills to deal with the practical aspects
of law. This way he prepared his students for the practical application of law besides making
them ready for the further academic courses.

Impact of NLSIU

Due to academic excellence, social relevance and professional competence, NLSIU came to
be known as “the Harvard of the East” amongst the Indian law schools. NLSIU, with a record
of 100% placement, started to lure the best students to join the law school.

The consequences of the reforms brought by Prof. Menon were visible in the improvement of
quality of litigation. Under the guidance of Prof. Menon, students with the different goals
graduated while imbibed with the dedication and discipline within their personalities. These
characteristics took the attention of Bar, Bench, law firms and other users who were
astonished by the professionalism and quality of education these graduates had. NLSIU
graduates made it possible for the legal profession to stand equal to other professions, giving

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the same sense of responsibility, position, and pay. This success led to the formation of other
law schools who were headed by none but the graduates whom Prof. Menon had trained
himself. Therefore, the formation and success of NLSIU played a great role in not only
raising the standard of the legal profession but also of the legal education system.

Formation of Fourth Law School

This time the State government made a request to Prof. Menon to establish a National Law
University in Calcutta with the promise that there will be no interference from any political
organisation. He started the establishment of another institution from the base which came to
be known as the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Calcutta.

Mostly NLSIU graduates joined either law firms or other forms of the corporate field instead
of Bar or NGOs. Prof. Menon believed that the best use of the law is for the upliftment of
society. Therefore, he made this college with the hope that within the increasing number of
well-versed law graduates, some of them will serve the society.

In NUJS also, he developed the culture of good work. Like NLSIU, NUJS also started
attracting fame and status instantly due to the presence of Prof. Menon who ensured that
graduates got a placement as early as possible.

Prof. Menon- The Pioneer of five years integrated law course

Before 1987, legal education was treated more like an option than a choice. Students used to
choose law as a career when they could not get through any other thing or was unable to
decide what exactly they should do. One could only pursue law by getting admitted into a
three year LL.B. after getting a degree. There were only a small number of teachers and
students who took legal education as a real learning.

The Bar Council of India was very worried about the degrading status of legal education in
India. The Bar Council of India shared this concern with Prof. Menon and he agreed to face
the challenge of transforming the legal education system. He laid the foundation of modern
legal education in India by accepting the invitation of the Bar Council of India in 1986 to set-
up National Law School of India University, Bangalore. Therefor the first time began a five
years integrated law course and brought into existence a new model of legal education in
India.

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The curriculum which he devised under the B.A.LL.B interlinked law with the appropriate
social science subjects, therefore, making the legal education integrated, disciplinary and
contextual. The curriculum besides the academic education consisted of clinical education
and internships during the vacation. Another benefit under the integrated course was that it
aimed at improving the legal writing and researching skills as it mandated projects in every
subject along with the academic reports. Therefore, the new course allowed the teaching and
learning of skills of advocacy along with the other practical application of law which was
beneficial not only for the court settings but also for any platform which required governance
and justice delivery.

This five years integrated law course saved the students one year which they had to spend if
they studied LL.B. after completing their undergraduate degree. His initiative of a five years
integrated law course allowed the students to choose law as a career immediately after the
completion of school. Therefore, he made admission into legal education more of a choice
than an option.

What other contributions did he make to the legal field in India?

The Law Commission always looked for the advice of Prof. Menon. And, he even became a
member of the law commission for two terms. He was made the chairman of the Indian
Statistical Institute, Kolkata along with the Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum. He
also assisted in bringing various reforms in the legal field by serving as a member of
committees on: Criminal Justice, Committee on Equal Opportunity Commission, Criminal
Justice Reform and Restructuring of Higher Education in India.

After his retirement in 2006, he was selected as a member of the Commission on Centre-State
relations (2006-2010). He started M.K. Nambyar Academy in his hometown Kerala to
continue the growth of legal education. He was very concerned for the weaker and
underprivileged sections who were not having much access to the law and justice. Therefore,
he established another institution, the Menon Institute of Legal Advocacy Training for
overcome his concern.

Formation of National Judicial Academy

Prof. Menon not only shared his knowledge with the law school students but he also utilised
it for improving the judiciary. He trained and prepared Judges, especially the young recruits

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in the service. The Supreme Court asked him to build another institution, this time an
educational institution for increasing the functionality of the judiciary. He cast his magic spell
again and built an institution from scratch to a successful judicial training academy. He
established the National Judicial Academy in Bhopal and served as its founding director for
2006.

He drew the tactic of ‘solution-driven’ approach within the academy in place of the old
‘teacher-student’ mechanism. He tried to help judges overcome the obstacles and encouraged
them to have discussions in portals for finding the solution to their problems. The Academy
under his guidance offered courses to High Court Judges, District Judges, and State Judicial
Academics.

Introduction of Clinical education in law schools

He introduced the concept of clinical education in India. The clinical education was given to
communities along with the law students. The clinical education enabled the law students to
experiment and apply the law to real-world problems while still studying in law school.
Various programs were conducted under the clinical education system which elevated the
access of justice in the society. Students also acquired the skills of advocacy while
maximising social justice and getting groomed with professional ethics, therefore, promoting
the wider public good.

What did he contribute to the legal literature?

Menon has been an author to several books. Throughout his lifetime, he tried to address the
legal issues by writing upon them and bringing them to the notice of the larger public. He was
always of the view that one should adapt oneself according to the changing time. He applied
this on writing too, he not only wrote books but also wrote papers and articles for news blogs
like “the Hindu” in order to reach out a large number of people on the legal issues.

While serving as a professor at Delhi University, Prof. Menon presented his first paper on
“legal aid” at Berkeley, California. Later on, he wrote a book on Legal aid and Legal
education covering the importance of legal aid and benefits of it if it is included in legal
education.

He then published his first book with the Eastern Book Company Law Relating to
Government Control over Private Enterprises. After authoring his second book Law and

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Property, he released his autobiography Turning point which describes the life journey and
work of Prof. Menon. Turning Point described his journey as the law teacher.

Legal Education

In 2012, Prof. Menon presented a paper in Harvard College titled The transformation of
Indian Legal Education which is a part of “blue paper”, a series of substantial essay, speech
and opinion pieces by various legal professionals. He discussed legal education reforms from
pre-independence to the formation of national law schools in India. He also stated the
problems and loopholes with the current legal education system and recommended solutions
to make the modern legal education system a better one.

He also authored books like Prof. N.R. Madhava Menon’s reflections on legal and judicial
education, education and public health, clinical legal education.

Judiciary

Prof. Menon was very concerned with the role of the judiciary. He not only set-up the
National Judicial Academy but also wrote several articles addressing the issues in the judicial
system and also suggested solutions for overcoming the problems. He wrote books like Prof.
N.R. Madhava Menon’s reflections on legal and judicial education, Population and Law:
Justice for all, law and ethics.

In 2008, he addressed Law and Justice: A look at the role and performance of Indian
Judiciary at the Berkeley Seminar Series on Law and Democracy, University of California.
He discussed:

1) Delay, arrears or pendency in access of justices

2) Judicial activism, Constitutional governance, and human rights protection
3) Judicial corruption, judicial independence, and judicial accountability.
On 12th October 2016, he published a blog post on Judicial delay may become a thing of the
past where he discussed the judicial reforms that were aimed to be achieved from the twelfth
five-year plan. He analyzed the plans and stated the missing goals in the plan that was to be
followed for achieving more efficiency in the Judiciary System of India.

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 What suggestions did he have for improving the modern legal education system?

o While writing on The Transformation of Indian Legal Education, a paper he

submitted to Harvard law school, where he expressed the grief on the lack of
competent teachers in the best National Law Schools. He was sad about the fact that
bright law graduates do not continue their post-graduation in Indian Law Schools and
do not proceed with teaching and researching. He suggested that faculty in the Law
Schools need to be improved which would otherwise lead students with a strong
financial background to join foreign institutions.
o Prof. Menon was invited by DSNLU Visakhapatnam on its ninth foundation day
where he gave a lecture titled “Legal Education for Resurgent Andhra Pradesh”.
He gave the following suggestions to improve the current legal education system:
 He complained that Bar Council of India has failed to transform the education
system according to the new Constitution adopted but has stuck to the old
system by making court-centric litigation as the main goal of the legal
education system. He advised that changes should be made in the curriculum
and standards of education.
 He recommended that law universities should develop research
methodologies to research on the issues of society and also devise the solution
for the issues researched.
 He stated that there should be a separation between academic and
professional courses provided by law universities. Professional courses
should prepare students by providing more opportunities to groom their skills
and practical applicability of law.
 Both law universities and law teachers should maintain high standards of
theoretical and practical knowledge along with the skill of developing new
courses.
 The current system of legal education should be transformed into justice
education. Law and Legal education should consider people more while
framing the rules. There should be experiential. Legal research and innovation
should be encouraged more. Legal education should be updated and consistent
with science and technology.

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  There should be a Legal Practice Incubation Clinic (LPIC) which would
help in developing skills, attitudes, and ethics by providing experiential
learning.
LPIC should provide opportunities for students to work in rural and tribal
habitats. And, has to pay a stipend to its students for such work and also
provide a certificate of Rural Legal Practice. Therefore, encouraging students
to serve society.

LPIC should have a Clinical Professor as its in-charge and sufficient funds
should be allocated to it for its work. Paralegal volunteers from the locality
could serve as an intermediate between the students and communities to help
in formulating the schemes in the best interest of the society.

 The academic studies should be finished in the first four years of law
school. In the final years, students who wish to join a law firm should be
spending their time in the law firm, those who wish to join litigation should be
placed with some senior advocates and students interested in ADR should be
working with the experts in that field.
o Recently, when the Common Law Admission Test came out as a huge blunder in
2018, a conference of Vice- Chancellors of National Law Universities was conducted
from 1st-2nd September 2018 for addressing Legal Education Reforms. Prof. Menon
was also a member of the conference as Honorary Director of the Bar Council of
Kerala. He gave the following suggestions while giving the introductory address:
 The Legal education system is collapsing as legal personnel have not
corresponded with the changing times. Therefore, legal personnel should adapt
according to new and changing technologies. He also advised the USA and
Canada which have successfully implemented ‘Continuing Legal Education
and Professional Development Systems’.
 Even after having excellent infrastructure, facilities, best resources, and cream
of talent, national law universities are unable to fulfil its goal due to the
mismatch between student-body and teacher-body. He warned and advised to
take seriously the incompetence of teacher-body as National Law Universities
have the responsibility of nation-building for which they require the best
faculty.

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  Law Students should be trained with lawyering skills which will help them in
starting legal practice on their own after graduation.
 During legal education, a student should acquire ethics, constitutional
culture and values of responsible citizens.
 Institutions providing legal education should have a mission to realise
meaningful legal education in India.
National Law Universities should work upon their deficiencies on their own
and should not leave everything for the Bar Council of India.

Why will he always be remembered?

Prof. Menon was a very influential human being. He was a man of integrity and high
character. He was a very disciplined and innovative person who always supported the usage
of modern technology. He was a successful institution-builder who faced so many challenges
and still successfully created three institutions which served as the pillars of many other
institutions. He also provided leadership to these institutions. There are various awards which
have been introduced to honour him like the Madhav Menon Best Law Teacher Award. Such
awards will always keep his name alive.

He died on 8th May 2019 and still people are writing about him, talking about his
contribution and sharing their experiences. Bar Association of India and the Society of Indian
Law Firms have already requested the Chief Justice of India to call for a full court in the
memory of Prof. Menon. He had contributed so much to the legal field that it is just next to
impossible to forget his contributions. His students have had a great impact on him
throughout their lives. His students will keep carrying the legacy which he created back in
1983 quashing the old and rotten legal education system.

Those who were taught by him or have met him will always show the footprints he had left
over their life. Therefore, he will continue to breathe along with the improving legal
education system.

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 References

1. https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-madhava-menon-model-of-legal-
education/article27119098.ece
2. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/education/nr-madhava-
menon-transformed
3. -indias-legal-education-landscape/articleshow/69304072.cms
4. https://clp.law.harvard.edu/assets/Menon_Blue_Paper.pdf
5. https://www.legallyindia.com/lawschools/prof-madhav-menon-asks-to-split-law-
courses-law-unis-to-step-up-more-in-dsnlu-foundation-day-speech-20161004-8017
6. https://www.sci.gov.in/pdf/PublicationOther/proceeding_book051018.pdf
7. http://southasia.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/shared/events/
2008_Indian_Democracy/Menon-LawANDJustice-ALook_.pdf
8. https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/Judicial-delay-may-become-a-thing-of-the-
past/article13556341.ece

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