Proposal to start course in 'nyaya shastra' in MNLU: SC Judge

Supreme Court Judge and Chancellor of the Maharashtra National Law University (MNLU) Nagpur, Justice Sharad Bobde, on Sunday said there was a proposal to launch a course in 'nyaya shastra' in MNLU.

Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony of the proposed permanent campus of the MNLU here, Justice Bobde also talked about the idea of setting up a judicial academy on the lines of National Defence Academy (NDA), which will produce only judges.

He said the course in 'nyaya shastra' will be introduced in MNLU in collaboration with the Sanskrit University, Ramtek for students and lawyers.

"The guiding thought behind this is to bring to the forefront the great science of logic expounded in India for very long...Our legal system is operating under the Aristotelian logic. This logic apart from Aristotle was given up by Muslim scholar Al Faradi," he said.

"But somehow for some reason the great science of logic embodied in the nyaya shastra has never been taught. I think mainly because of the language barrier. This university I believe is the first in India, but first in the world to have a course like this," Bobde said.

Talking about the judicial academy, he said it will only produce judges.

"The model which we have in mind is that of the National Defence Academy (NDA)," he said.

"A student will enter the academy after school and after five to six years, will pass out completely trained in the art of being a judge. He will attend several courts in the course of his studies and become familiar in the functioning of the court," he added.

"The idea is to provide first class judges to the state...judges, who on the day they pass out, are qualified to handle any case in any court and if it comes to the national judicial services, capable of sitting in any court and anywhere in the country," he said.

"This judicial academy is something we can all look forward to. It can give the government 50 judges per year and those judges will of course be granted job with the government on the basis of merit. It is an attempt to create a highly efficient working force of judges," Justice Bobde said.

On MNLU, he said, "The idea behind MNLU was not to duplicate a law college, which Nagpur already has, but to have a university which is national in its outlook and character and attended by students and faculty from all over the country," he said.

Bobde said that Nagpur is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world.

"It may not be a metro, but it is certainly cosmopolitan. You have every community represented in best traditions and in great strength," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said that it has become the need of the hour to convert the knowledge into wealth and engage into intensive research on all important national and international legal issues.

He said the standard of this university will meet international level.