Introduction
Known as the teacher of the teachers, Prof. Dr N.L. Mitra received his Master’s degree in Commerce, Master’s in Law, and Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) from Calcutta University, postdoctoral (post-doc). Fellowship on Human rights from Strasbourg, France. He has served as a partner at Fox Mandal, is the former director of National Law School of India University (NLSIU) and is the founder and former Vice-Chancellor of National Law University (NLU) Jodhpur and Chancellor of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University. A former invitee to the American Law Deans Association and American Bar Association. He has also served as the Chairman of several important committees of the Government of India and has been associated with many leading institutions, including the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and General Insurance Corporation (GIC) in various capacities.
He has contributed significantly to research projects on financial sectors and infrastructural legal reforms in collaboration with esteemed institutions such as Harvard University, the Asia Development Bank, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Bank. His expertise extends to drafting key legislation related to the infrastructure sector, including reforms in banking regulations, bankruptcy laws, financial fraud prevention, investor protection, and fiscal responsibility. A prolific scholar, he has authored over eleven books and published more than 200 research papers in renowned national and international journals and law reports.
1. What prompted you into legal studies and make it a definitive career path?
If academics were to determine career paths during my time, I was to become either a Chartered Accountant or Industrial Economist. I was interested in neither. Seeing people around me in family and near relations I planned for the Civil Service Examination and took an LLB education along with a post-graduate education in Commerce in Calcutta University where both the degrees could be taken, one in the day and one in the evening time. Law facilitated the Civil Service Examination so legal education for me was a supportive education and not professional.
I never visited any court to see what a legal profession looks like in the Bar and in the Bench. So, the first was my coming to education, and then to legal education. After the Civil Service Examination, I joined education for a stop-gap in response to an invitation from a University College of Commerce in my hometown. When finally, I got the call to join the police service and joined the same, I could compare my past and present. I found my past experience in education to be very attractive and satisfying. So, I left the police service and came back to education. Thereafter, in the year 1970, the Vice-Chancellor of the University personally asked me to start the Department of Law in the University since only I had an LLB qualification amongst the faculty of the University. Because of my service training, I was thought to be suitable. By that time my ability to teach and my command over the students was an established fact. Thus, my legal academic profession started.
2. You are known to be the “teacher of the teachers”. What motivated you to contribute to this field as a professor? Please walk us through your career transition journey.
Between 1962-1970, I was teaching multiple subjects in Commerce education, testing my ability to teach. Wherein, I used to handle many subjects due to a shortage of faculty staff. Then came the call for opening a Law School. I took it as a challenging job. So, I landed in my orbit for the next phase of my life. I, myself, was not adequately educated in law. When the Department was firmly established, I had to do a Master’s, and then my PhD and went abroad on post-doc fellowship and internship programs in several world organisations, like International Labour Organization (ILO), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Henrey Dunant Research Institute, and International Court of Justice. That made me finally firmly anchored in my legal education career.
From the beginning, I was against the existing model of half-hearted legal education as a professional course in the entire eastern part of the country led by Calcutta University through its 2 to 3 hours part-time formal classes per day in the evening. My challenge was to make it a worthy full-time professional education when it was a part-time course almost everywhere. Some of us, inspired by the mission of establishing a serious full-time professional course, convinced our Vice-Chancellor of the time, Dr Ramaranjan Mukherji. A High-Power Legal Education Reform Committee was formed with a renowned jurist of the time, former Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, Dr P.K. Tripathy of Delhi University, and Dr G.S. Sharma of Indian Law Institute. I was the Secretary of the Committee. The Committee suggested a full-time LLB course to be established in the University with admission tests to be conducted and limited the seats to 50. The University accepted the report and thus how the reconstituted Law Department of the Burdwan University started in 1973. We introduced a clinical form of legal education in 1974, driven by a desire to create a career-oriented law program. By 1978, this approach of clinical legal education gained popularity in Delhi Law School, sparking discussions on legal education reforms and from time to time, I was invited for discussions on the same in seminars and debates and to observe the legal aid clinic organised by Prof. Madhava Menon. I recognised the dismal state of legal education and conditions for the legal profession in the entire country. The worst heat was investigation and prosecution. Our experiment in Burdwan University became a great success in placing our students at most of the positions in the judicial service examinations; our students also started shining in the profession, with a few joining the administrative service. In 1988, Prof. Menon invited me to join in the experiment of the Bar Council of India in sponsoring a Law School in Bangalore with an integrated five-year law course having an integrated degree of BA and LLB. The NLSIU started its course to the first batch in a new model of integrated five-year law course in 1988. In 1990, the University Grants Commission requested the National Law School, Bangalore to be the only Academic Staff College for legal education in India. I was now the man in charge of all those programs and had to develop all faculty orientation, continuing courses and single-handedly run the courses. Thus, I became the ‘teacher of teachers’ of the country in course of 3 to 4 years, if really that word has any significance. Today, in many of the National Law Universities, the leadership lies with my students who did undergo Academic Staff College (ASC) programs two/three/four times because of their interest in legal education. They have now started presenting me with that attribute. It is their greatness and not really mine.
3. Throughout your remarkable journey, you must have surmounted a myriad of challenges. Could you elaborate on the approach you employed to navigate through them?
The journey indeed had a lot of ups and downs, there was a time when my librarian was killed inside the library because of the political philosophy of Naxals to destroy the education system as a whole. So, the British education system had to face the first challenge of the Naxal Movement. Our District, Burdwan was very badly affected in the movement. In that situation, our first challenge was to establish and run the Department of Law. Law has always been in the center stage of movements in Bengal. So, a few teachers collected and decided to have a chance to introduce professional legal education as a whole-time mainstream education like other professional education. It was difficult to establish such a school at that time in a conventional university so, we reformed the Department of Law in a new style and requested a program with full-time attention in 1973. Soon the new law program got national attraction for its whole-time professional legal educational approach; a new curriculum design; emphasis on clinical and case studies methods of learning law and learning various legal skills; selecting students through admission tests and finally being able to place the passing out students year after year in the judicial service and legal profession. We developed, in those days, a brand value of “Law in Burdwan University: a definite road to judicial service”.
Meanwhile, there was a movement initiated by Ram Jethmalani, and his friends as they aimed to establish a model law school in India offering a holistic, integrated 5-year legal education that would cater to the need for good clinical legal education. I was invited by its first Director (Equivalent to Vice-Chancellor) Prof. Menon to pilot the academic program of the Model University as its first Professor for nearly a decade. With acute financial uncertainties, the academic program got high acceptability of the entire legal profession, Bench, Bar, and solicitors’ firms. In those first ten years spinning out six batches of students, the reputation of the university traveled fast in the world. In its third year, it became the only Academic Staff College in Law and Social Sciences under a special request of the University Grants Commission (UGC); in its fourth year a team of Chinese Supreme Court Judges, under the leadership of a Vice Premier, came to Law School for learning Administrative law; in its fifth year it was requested by the Karnataka Government to train Scheduled Caste (SC)/Scheduled Tribe (ST) aspirants to take the Judicial Service Examination (with six-months training 16 of the 21 participants were selected for the judicial service); and in course of first ten years several institutions, corporate bodies, regulatory bodies, and administrative services approached the school for in-service training in law and justice. Leading academics from various countries including Harvard, Oxford, Colombia, California, Paris, Beijing, Sydney, Tokyo, and others visited the university. New courses were designed. The first time an open course on Master’s Degree in Business Laws was floated and an Indian University traveled to the Middle East with this degree program.
So, the first thing you need to find is whether you wish to take it as a challenge. To be honest I have always taken it as an opportunity to thrive in an experiment.
4. Sir you have authored more than 11 books and more than 200 research papers, have also been a Chairman of many Committees, and have helped in drafting the . What are the things you have always kept in mind while drafting and how should one go about a research paper?
I had the opportunity for all these listed in your query above, but that really does not ipso facto make anyone great. I had to write six books as reading materials for the master’s degree course as the study materials. Five other books are on various subjects not simply in law, such as Business Management, Practical Auditing, Juvenile Delinquency, and Justice P.B. Mukherjee’s New Jurisprudence (Edited). A voluminous work is Handbook on Law & Practice on Education. 11 volumes have already been published on Medical, Paramedical, Indian Medicine, Health Education, Homeopathy, Agriculture, Technology, and Engineering education in India and are now available in the market. Another four volumes would make the series complete.
I had the opportunity to research on various projects funded by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, ILO, International Red Cross Society, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), etc. Most of these research works form parts of published books. I was in the research group of Harvard Institution of International Development (HIID) for nearly 4 years. Some of these research works ultimately were reflected in legislations.
While drafting any legislative proposals one needs to keep in mind that the: (i) draft must be in simple language, certain, and easily understandable; (ii) objectives of the legislation have to be kept in view. I feel that an international treaty style of exhaustive preamble may be added in the draft of a bill; and (iii) application of the statute and its procedure must be simple and effective. In India, laws are good and comprehensive, some are of course written in complex language, but implementation is very poor. Investigation and prosecution are the two most inefficient in the administration of criminal justice.
It is important to understand that the term “research” implies revisiting and re-examining an area that has already been explored, the motivation behind this might be dissatisfaction with previous findings or changes needed in the circumstances and social dynamics; or a desire to contribute a new perspective. A personal interest and involvement is essential for a person going for research in a subject. To conduct effective research, it is beneficial to narrow down the area of investigation to a specific area of interest. For example, if one researches and proposes to write a paper on Geographical Indications (‘GI’) in India because one is not comfortable with how GI is granted and administered, one needs to narrow down the scope of research. Legal research is quantitative research and hence, data collection and data analysis would be needed. It is the quality and character of the data that provides quality of research outcome. One may then narrow down GI applied for and to be granted on various types of sweets made in India. Take the case of granting GI status to “rosogulla” (a popular Indian sweet) manufactured at different places with the same raw materials and similar procedures. The research paper has to develop in stages. Say, the first step relates to technical data; the second is to relate to data on efficiency and training of the workforce; the third would be to explain the contribution or importance of the geographical location on materials, procedure, and workforce; the fourth – run down to the taste and consumption data that constitutes the market; the next on the study of the market with special characteristics of demand; GI as Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to be distinguished, especially with trade mark and design; the durability and preservation facility available; individual benefit versus the community interest and finally the claim of GI and its rationality. Then, one may examine the national policy, if any, and the scope of benefit-sharing arising out of the benefit of GI to be granted.
So, in research it is important to build up one’s argument step by step focusing on small, specific issues by way of deeper investigation and analysis. Addressing these individual concerns, one can gradually construct a larger, more compelling argument. The policy is one step at a time; zeal, to unearth knowledge covered in vail; and energy, to walk an extra mile.
5. Could you share an initiative you took while serving as an advisor to the RBI Governor and what is the happiest memory you hold from that experience?
I had a relation with RBI for over 6 to 7 years over several specific research and advisory roles. Each one I took as a challenge and each one I enjoyed. Say for example, I was first asked to head a Committee on Bankruptcy Law in India, as a part of financial sector law reform following the policy on global integration of economy. The Committee critically reviewed the existing law and practice and found out the loopholes and then proposed the new system that would be needed. We recommended a dedicated Bench in each High Court on Company matters on the plea that the existing form of tribunalisation does not fit in our legal system and in choosing the Tribunal, one experiences discrimination between retiring judges of the High Courts.
I lead the RBI team in the Asian Development Bank (ADB) twice. The first time was for presentation on legal reform on bankruptcy required in India, which was a challenging and satisfying moment, and the second time, on law and practice in India in credit instruments because any complexity, inadequacy, or absence of the creation of various forms of security interest on movable and immovable properties including IPR and determination of security interest would generally affect the credit system to develop business in general and foreign trade in particular. In our work on credit and security systems in the financial market, it was really interesting to locate the legal vacuum in law on credit instruments at various stages. The way HIID prepared the research scheme was really a strong learning process in research methodology.
Similarly, when asked to chair the Committee to deal with banking and financial fraud I, along with my committee members, enjoyed to critically analyse the legal system, its inadequacy in both substantive and procedural law. I really felt happy when some members raised a parliamentary question on the Committee Report that finally led to the Government to constitute Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) to include financial fraud as an offence in financial regulatory market. RBI prepared a detailed internal checklist and best practices as an internal control in banking transactions to prevent banking fraud.
On several occasions, I had to meet two Governors in succession, Dr Bimal Jalan and Dr Y.V. Reddy. I enjoyed each and every meeting and kept my learning curve alive. Once, Dr Jalan left my presentation on equitable mortgage in bank loan transactions being frustrated on my remark that on equitable mortgage banks have to get possession of the underlying property through courts. I could see the frustration in his eyes while leaving. That finally prompted me the concept of “constructive possession” and kept the court out of jurisdiction for enforcement in giving possession and taking years to block the debt asset. The reason I proposed the securitisation, etc. is that ’those who demand equity must do equity’. Finally, creditor banks and financial institutions can now take possession of the property by serving a notice on properties under equitable mortgage.
6. Could you recount a memorable anecdote from your teaching career that has indelibly etched itself into your heart?
The first batch of students in NLSIU was admitted in 1988 and classes started on 1st July. I noticed a girl started attending the class at the beginning of the fourth week of July. I was very angry because the selection was made under my direct guidance, specifically based on a national admission test which was cleared by only 47 students. Where did she come from? She said she was admitted a day earlier. How could she be admitted without my signature? So, I understood the catch and felt frustrated. In the trimester system, the first mid-session test was due in two weeks. I told myself that we have to see how she clears the first trimester. We had a cooperative teaching system. Joga Rao, the youngest faculty was associated with me in teaching Law of Contract. Our teaching materials were non-conventional, teaching-learning methodology was an innovative case study method. “So let us see” – I told myself. It was a 50 marks question paper with 5 simulated cases. In one, we required arguments ‘for’. In another we wanted arguments ‘against’. In another, we wanted judgment with reasons. In the fourth one, we asked for legal advice to one client. And lastly, we provided briefs for both sides and asked for framing of issues for decision-making. Of course, simulated cases were based on some cases decided. We also had a system of model answers which were to be available in the library after the examination was over. Coming out of the examination hall she looked depressed and said her paper was bad. She was directed to see the model answer. She further felt rejected whereas I felt happy, so, she deserved the result. Both of us examined the paper and her paper left me surprised, she argued very well with a lot of new angles pointing out what was not even pointed out by Justice Abid Ali (one of the all-time great jurists of the Privy Council). Both of us consulted her innovative answer and she was awarded 10/10 in the first question. We went for the second question, again she scored 10/10. And after the entire paper was assessed, she got forty-eight out of fifty. Naturally, her answers were the model answers replacing model answers prepared by us. My lifelong learning was: “Not to belittle any student and their latent quality in any situation.” Knowledge is inside, only incidents happen outside. Later, she became the chief of the legal division of Infosys within twelve years of her experience as a legal professional in the US and India.
7. If you were to make an alternate career choice as a young adult, what would it be?
If I have any choice, this academic profession will be my only choice even on my rebirth.
8. What would you advise students aspiring to pursue a career in academia?
Be ready to learn at all times, from everyone, and on all occasions. Not to think that one who did not study law is ignorant. Any person with average intelligence and inquisitiveness has legal knowledge inside. As an academician, one needs to make any topic or lesson in law interesting to the students. Once their hunger for knowledge is encouraged and given importance to, students will learn automatically. It is just like hunger for food. One who feels hungry would organise it. A teacher’s job is to make the subject enjoyable and dear to the students. Thereafter, there would be no looking back. An academic career is good if you enjoy it. If you always have a feeling that had you done this thing or that thing, your income would be doubled, then this is not your job. Teaching is not simply a profession, it is a way of life, your love. I learned it through my life experience.
9. What change you would like to bring considering the fast pace of artificial intelligence (AI) in India?
AI is competent to do all repetitive work in law, like drafting a document, plaint, or a written statement on matters of fact or even possible arguments and counters on a given fact arrangement. AI can indicate possible alternative decisions from arguments for both sides. It may predict what would be the next argument of the other side. It may prepare the records of your client and interview the client with possible inquiries you would have also made. Many of the jobs of a lawyer or a law firm can be very effectively and adequately be done by AI-generated software. It would include from the clients’ interview and facts, an analysis of what could be the Court’s decision and indicate the legal advice.
But AI cannot replace original intelligence. The curriculum of legal education must now have to be revised keeping in view the newly developing initiatives, innovation, and intelligence of the learners into wider fields of knowledge. The new materials must be multidisciplinary, interactive, experimental, and based on inquiry into socio-economic and socio-cultural phenomena. AI-driven educational software is required to be used as the basis of further inquiry. Teaching-learning has to change. AI-generated teaching software would prompt a teacher to idealize and hypothesize newer and innovative teaching-learning methods and material. AI-generated study courses can present us with mechanical materials provided accurate quality data can be built up. AI still cannot read human mental phenomena of emotion, anger, love, affection, beauty, empathy, and all that quality that nature imbedded into a human being. Indian courts are not American or British courts. Indian courts have to give justice in its entire sense, not merely procedural but also economic, social, and political. Legal education must now change into justice education, not so much on memorising information in one’s cognitive capacity. Law schools are not to make human beings into robots, law schools have to make the mind of a student conscious to attain supramental consciousness in order to have a wide vision of human faculty. This would require law schools to pay more attention to professional ethics, psychological transformation, and harnessing one’s own creativity, crossing the border of disciplinary knowledge. A lawyer’s mind has to have the capacity for total realisation in its natural course of events. Legal education has to be internationalised to develop universal principles of quality human rights; multidisciplinary with a credit transfer system. Law is everywhere, within and without. This realisation would enable students to redress grievances within the natural process and development. That is in a real sense sustainable development.
10. Sir, according to you what is that one principle that you have always followed in your life and in your opinion what qualities in a law student are required to bag success in life?
‘Sincerity and hard work ultimately pays off’ is the principle that I like in a law student, who is necessarily a researcher throughout life. Big success is not measurable in money. It is honesty and integrity that matters in the legal profession. A lawyer is a lifelong researcher to earn his livelihood.
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