Arteev Sharma
Jammu, September 28: Amid the ongoing controversy over the proposed National Law University (NLU), Jammu and Kashmir Government on Monday clarified that no decision has been taken so far on the location or headquarters of the institution.
The government said the place or headquarters of the Jammu and Kashmir National Law University is yet to be notified, even as the issue has created a vertical regional divide, with groups in Jammu demanding that the university be established in the Jammu division while several Kashmir-based groups supporting its establishment in Srinagar.
“The government is yet to notify the headquarter or place of the said university in terms of section 3 of the Act,” Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who hold the charge of the Department of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, said in a written reply to a question of Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma in the Legislative Assembly today.
The Chief Minister, however, referred to the Private Member’s Resolution moved by Congress legislator Nizam-ud-Din Bhat, and adopted unanimously by the House on October 29, 2025, stating, “This House unanimously resolves to impress on the government to initiate the process of establishing the Jammu and Kashmir National Law University at Srinagar, without any further delay, as the funds earmarked for the first phase have already been provided”.
The Jammu and Kashmir National Law University Act, 2018, was passed by the Legislative Assembly of the erstwhile State and received the assent of the then Governor on September 28, 2019.
Under Section 3 of the Act, the government may, through a notification in the official Gazette, establish one or more universities under the Act at a place and from a date specified in the notification. The Act further provides that the headquarters of the university shall be at a place specified by the government through a Gazette notification, while campuses may also be established at other notified locations.
Despite the legislation being in place, the government, however, said that it has set no timeline for establishing the National Law University after even seven years of its establishment.
It may be placed here that several parts of Jammu region have witnessed protests on demands by students, lawyers, and political groups to establish a National Law University (NLU) in the Jammu division rather than in Kashmir, following a government announcement indicating the institution would be set up in Budgam.
The movement gathered steam after the BJP leaders joined students protesting for the establishment of a National Law University (NLU) in the Jammu region. The party had said that it would not remain silent on the issue and described fight for the NLU for Jammu as a “collective struggle”.
