Jump to content

Government Law College, Mumbai: Difference between revisions

Coordinates: 18°56′04″N 72°49′36″E / 18.934476°N 72.826805°E / 18.934476; 72.826805
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 3: Line 3:
|image = [[Image:GLC - Mumbai.jpg|centre|150px|Seal of the Government Law College, Mumbai]]
|image = [[Image:GLC - Mumbai.jpg|centre|150px|Seal of the Government Law College, Mumbai]]
|name = Government Law College, Mumbai
|name = Government Law College, Mumbai
|motto = "''Ne File Vano ''" ''''' <br /><small>("Let no evil enter ")
|motto = "''Ne File Vano ''" ''''' <br /><small>("Let No Evil Enter")
|established = 1855
|established = 1855
|parent school = [[Mumbai University]]
|parent school = [[Mumbai University]]

Revision as of 12:42, 4 September 2013

18°56′04″N 72°49′36″E / 18.934476°N 72.826805°E / 18.934476; 72.826805

Government Law College, Mumbai
Seal of the Government Law College, Mumbai
Seal of the Government Law College, Mumbai
Motto"Ne File Vano "
("Let No Evil Enter")
TypeLaw School
Established1855
Location
Mumbai
,
Maharashtra
,
India
CampusUrban
Websiteglcmumbai.com

The Government Law College, Mumbai (abbreviated as GLC), is a law school located in Mumbai, India. Founded in 1855, GLC is the oldest law school in Asia, dating even prior to the University of Mumbai and the Bombay High Court. GLC, which enjoys a pre-eminent national and international reputation for excellence, is the only law school in India to have produced the heads of all three arms of Government i.e. the President of India, the Prime Minister of India and the Chief Justice of India. The college celebrated its sesquicentennial in 2006.

History

Inception

Until the 1850’s there was no formal legal education for legal officers and lawyers in India. Sir Thomas Erskine Perry, the then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature at Bombay, would deliver lectures on law after court hours. These classes were held on a very informal basis and were attended only by a select group. However, it was not till Sir Perry left for England in 1852, that a conscious effort was made to collect funds in order to institute a chair in Jurisprudence at the Elphinstone Institution. It was called the “Perry Professorship of Jurisprudence”. In 1855, Robert Reid (LL.B Bar-at-Law & the first Judge of the Small Causes Court, Bombay) was appointed as the first Perry Professor of Jurisprudence and the Government Law School (GLS), as it was then called, was established at the Elphinstone Institution. The Government Law School has been affiliated with the University of Bombay since 1860.

New Premises

The name, “Government Law School” was changed to “Government Law College” in 1925. It was only in 1938 that the college was converted into a full-time institution. It began work under the guidance of the then Principal Mr. A.A.A. Fyzee. After this change of status, the Government of Bombay decided to allocate a plot, west of Churchgate railway station for the Government Law College building. The college, that now stands at this very location, has had the privilege of guidance from eminent legal luminaries such as Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Lokmanya Tilak, Justice M.C.Chagla, Nani Palkhivala and several others who have adorned benches of the Supreme Court of India and the Bombay High Court. Equally, students who have passed from the portals of GLC have distinguished themselves at the Bar, the Judiciary and the Academy.

Academics

Five Year Law Course

The college offers an integrated B.L.S., LL.B. course to the undergraduates. The course spans over five years and leads to a dual B.L.S, LL.B. degree awarded by the Mumbai University. The first two years of the program are "pre-law", focused on the study of humanities and social sciences. The remaining three years focus exclusively on the study of law.

Three Year Law Course

Postgraduates have the option of enrolling for the LL.B. degree. The LL.B. degree is a three-year program with classes devoted solely to the study of law. A student who has successfully completed three years study is entitled to the LL.B. degree and is eligible to practise as an advocate, as per the Rules of the Bar Council of India. A student who desires to learn the law but does not wish to practise as an advocate is eligible for the LL.B. (General) Degree at the end of two years.

GLC follows the semester system.

Other Courses

GLC further features specialized diploma courses which include Postgraduate Diploma Course in Securities Law, Post Graduate Diploma In Intellectual Property Rights and Diploma in Cyber-Laws offered in joint-collaboration with the Asian School of Cyber Laws. All courses are taught by leading practitioners and experts.

Admissions

While the college does not have an admissions test for matriculation, it favours an extremely selective approach by focusing upon the marks achieved in the 10+2 examination and the final year examination of the undergraduate colleges held across India. Admission is given strictly on merit. The college has traditionally maintained high cut-off percentage for admission and competition is fierce for the sparse annual intake.

Infrastructure

The GLC campus is located at Churchgate, to the west of the railway station, with close proximity to the Bombay High Court. The college has 17 classrooms, a Mooting Room, an Auditorium, an audio-visual room and a canteen for the benefit of students. The campus has a basketball court and a mini gymkhana at the back of the auditorium (for table tennis, carom, etc.). The students also use the nearby Oval Maidan or Mumbai University ground for sports such as cricket and football.

The college has no hostel of its own. However, 62 seats for male students of the College in the Government Colleges Hostel, “C” Road, Churchgate and 20 Seats for male students at the Ismail Yusuf College at Jogeshwari, Mumbai has been provided.

The Library

From its humble origins in 1856, GLC's library has grown into one of the foremost law libraries in the country, housing more than 42,000 books. In addition to its extensive collection of books and law reports drawn from all over the world, the library has maintained and preserved rare books that are out of print, some of which cannot be found in any other library in India. The Library additionally features a dedicated Electronic Research Room (ERR) for student use.

In 1856-57 a collection of law books was purchased for the use of the students of the college at the suggestion of Mr. E.I. Howard, Bar-at-Law and the then Director of Public Instruction. But this could only be housed at the Native General Library at Dhobi Talao for the lack of space. Eventually, in 1891, Government Law School and its Library were accommodated in Elphinstone College Building at Kalaghoda and on 13 July 1891, the Government sanctioned a grant of Rs.2,000/- for the purchase of furniture and other equipment for the Law Library. Every Principal in its own way tried to enrich the library in order to make it useful to the students as well as to the practitioners. During his tenure Dr. B. R. Ambedkar prevailed upon the Government to make an additional grant of Rs. 1000/- which was sanctioned in 1936. The Harilal J. Kania Memorial Library and Reading Room on the third floor of the college has been a part of this college since 1952. This Reading Room was created from the Harilal J. Kania Memorial Fund, which was instituted to honour the memory of Sir Harilal J. Kania, the first Chief Justice of India and an ex-student of GLC. This Reading Room can accommodate as many as 200 students at a time. The other two floors, i.e. the first and the second floors of the annex building, house various books on case law, many of which are more than a hundred years old.

The library enjoys the distinction of being the archival repository of the Civil Procedure Code of the East India Company’s Courts in the presidency of Fort St. George, and the original copy of the Indian Penal Code as drafted by Lord Macaulay in the year 1886.

Student Committees

  • Students' Council
  • Moot Court Association
  • Alumni Association
  • SPIL, Mumbai
  • Model United Nations Society
  • Debating and Literary Society
  • Placement Committee
  • Magazine Committee
  • Sports Committee
  • Dramatics Committee
  • Legal Aid Committee
  • Social Service League
  • National Service Schemee
  • Rotaract Club
  • Leo Club
  • Hindi Parishad
  • Marathi Mandal
  • Gujarati Mandal
  • Music Circle
  • Law Review

Faculty

  • Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, former Principal, reformist, first Law Minister of India and Chairman, Drafting Committee of the Constitution of India
  • Sir Dinshaw Mulla, former Principal, Privy Councilor, founding partner of Mulla and Mulla
  • Nani Palkhiwala, former professor and noted Constitutional Lawyer
  • M. C. Chagla, former Chief Justice, Bombay High Court
  • A. A. A. Fayzee, former Principal and one of the foremost authorities on Islamic Law
  • Trimbak K. Tope, longest serving Principal of GLC (17 years) and former Vice Chancellor, University of Mumbai
  • Mr. H. D. Pithawala, Solicitor of India, England and Hong Kong and noted authority on Competition Law
  • Mr. Gautam Patel, Lecturer in Constitutional Law and Advocate at the Bombay High Court
  • Judge R. B. Malik, incumbent Principal, President of the Industrial Court

Alumni

Chief Justices of India

Famous Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts

Elite Government Offices, Politicians, Reformers and Industrialists

See also

References

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Government_Law_College,_Mumbai&oldid=571506023"