India Today 2015 Best Law College Rankings retain NLSIU Bangalore at the top

National Law School of India University, Bangalore, continues to retain its first rank among the best law colleges in India as per the latest 2015 Best Law College Rankings from India Today magazine. The second spot goes, as usual, to the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research University (NALSAR University of Law), Hyderabad. The third spot has also been retained by the Delhi University (DU) Faculty of Law, despite the fact that it has been in news recently for the Bar Council of India conducting an enquiry against it for its disaffiliation.

There are 3 new entrants in the 20 top law schools list, when compared with the last year’s list. Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur is at 9^th place; National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi is at 18^th place; and KLE Society’s Law College, Bengaluru has marked its presence at 19^th place.

The prominent law colleges missing from this list are: National Law University, Jodhpur; West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata; National Law Institute University, Bhopal; and Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala. Also missing is the National Law University, Delhi (NLU Delhi). It is understood that some (or, perhaps all) of these prominent law colleges decided not to participate in the India Today ranking survey.

It is pertinent to note that out of 16 NLU’s that participated in the CLAT-2015 examination for admission to their law courses, only 5 find place in the India Today’s 20 rankings. In addition, NLU Delhi which conducts its own separate test also does not figure in the list. It is noteworthy that from this (2015-16) academic session, Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai (MNLU, Mumbai) is also likely to start functioning.

The complete list of 20 top-ranked law colleges as per India Today 2015 survey are as under:

1. National Law School of India University, Bangalore.
2. National Academy of Legal Studies and Research University (NALSAR University of Law), Hyderabad.
3. Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, Delhi.
4. Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar.
5. Symbiosis Society’s Law College, Pune.
6. Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh.
7. ILS Law College, Pune.
8. Faculty of Law, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.
9. Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur.
10. Bharati Vidyapeeth’s New Law College, Pune.
11. Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi.
12. Christ College of Law, Bangalore.
13. Amity Law School, Delhi (Noida).
14. University School of Law & Legal Studies, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU), Delhi.
15. Faculty of Law, ICFAI University, Dehradun.
16. Army School of Law, Mohali.
17. Government Law College, Mumbai.
18. National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi.
19. KLE Society’s Law College, Bengaluru.
20. Institute of Law, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra.

So, out of top 20 spots, 10 spots (half of the total 20) are shared by 3 cities: Delhi (4), Bangalore (3) and Pune (3).

However, the sanctity of such top ranking lists is not always beyond doubt. It is generally believed that certain deserving educational institutes get omitted while certain undeserving entities make their way into such lists.

Read the original India Today article on these rankings, here.