A university cannot educate students through legislation, Assembly resolutions or political promises. It needs a headquarters, faculty, infrastructure and, above all, a government willing to turn decisions into action. Jammu and Kashmir’s proposed National Law University has had seven years to make that transition. It is still waiting for an officially notified home.
The delay is more than bureaucratic lethargy. It exposes a troubling gap between the government’s stated ambitions for higher education and its ability to deliver them. The Jammu and Kashmir National Law University Act received the Governor’s assent on September 28, 2019. Yet the government’s latest reply to a question in the Legislative Assembly confirms that the university’s headquarters has not been notified under Section 3 of the Act.
There is no confirmed date for admissions, no clear timetable for classes and no definitive public account of when the institution will become operational. For an institution intended to advance legal education and research, this prolonged uncertainty is difficult to justify.
The government has not been entirely inactive. A committee headed by Shantmanu, then Additional Chief Secretary in the Higher Education Department, examined requirements ranging from land and classrooms to faculty, hostels, admissions and fee structures. Its report was submitted and was under examination, according to an April 2026 government response.
But committees are instruments of administration, not substitutes for decisions. Once a report has been submitted, the public deserves to know what it recommends, what remains unresolved and when the government intends to act.
The proposed university appeared closer to reality in October 2025, when the Legislative Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution moved by Congress MLA Nizam-ud-Din Bhat, urging its establishment in Srinagar without further delay. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah supported the proposal and indicated that classes could begin in April 2026 in temporary rented accommodation at Ompora in Budgam district.
That was a potentially practical approach. A permanent campus need not be completed before teaching begins, provided suitable facilities, faculty and administrative arrangements are in place. Temporary accommodation could have allowed the government to move ahead while longer-term infrastructure was developed.
But an announced possibility is not an operational achievement. The latest government reply does not confirm that classes began as proposed or that Srinagar was formally notified as the headquarters. With the proposed start date past, the government owes students and the public a clear explanation.
Regional balance is no excuse for paralysis.
The university’s location has become contentious, with political leaders, students and lawyers in Jammu demanding regional representation. During the Assembly debate, Banihal and other locations were also suggested. Srinagar, meanwhile, has the backing of the Assembly resolution.
These competing demands deserve consideration, but they cannot remain a permanent justification for administrative indecision. Nor should the location of other major educational institutions be treated as automatically settling the question. Each institution has its own requirements, and the National Law University’s headquarters must be determined through the procedure established by its governing law.
The government’s response to questions about a possible Jammu headquarters has offered little clarity. Asked about land identification, funding and the timeline for notification, the department referred back to its statement that the headquarters had not been notified. That is a statement of the impasse, not an explanation for it.
Regional equity matters. So does timely delivery. The government must explain the criteria it is using to assess locations, identify the decision-making authority and establish a deadline for resolving the issue. A transparent process would be more useful than allowing competing political claims to keep the project suspended indefinitely.
Follow the money, publish the timeline.
The 2025 Assembly resolution referred to funds earmarked for the first phase. But earmarking money is not the same as spending it effectively. The public record, as reflected in the available replies, does not provide a detailed account of funds sanctioned, released or spent, or the facilities created through that allocation.
The government should publish the financial position alongside the committee’s findings. It should identify what preparatory work has been completed, what remains pending and what resources are required to begin academic operations. Students should not have to infer the status of a university from scattered political announcements and parliamentary replies.
A National Law University is not merely another government building. It requires a credible academic framework, qualified teachers, research facilities and a functioning administration. Its purpose extends beyond awarding degrees to strengthening legal scholarship, promoting awareness of the law and developing the next generation of legal professionals. Prolonged delay denies prospective students clarity and leaves a potentially important public institution unrealised.
The way forward is neither complicated nor mysterious. Section 3 of the 2018 Act provides the statutory route for notifying the university and specifying its headquarters. The government should complete that process, explain its decision and release a time-bound implementation plan covering funding, infrastructure, staffing and admissions.
If genuine obstacles remain, they should be identified publicly, with deadlines for resolving them. If regional consultations are holding up the decision, the government should explain their status rather than allowing uncertainty to become the default.
Seven years after the law received assent, Jammu and Kashmir has a statutory framework, an Assembly resolution and a proposed starting point. What it lacks is execution.
A university cannot remain forever a promise awaiting its address. The government must decide where it will stand and when its doors will open. Until then, the National Law University exists more convincingly on paper than in the lives of the students it is supposed to serve.
About the Author
Moien Darial writes with the precision of an analyst and sensitivity of a storyteller, exploring global economic shifts and emerging technologies.
