The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, the LB Block-based premier institute for legal studies and research, has geared up to address emerging requirements in legal education, both in terms of infrastructure and subjects taught.

Two courses have been introduced — in forensic science and data science. The first has been necessitated by the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 (BNSS) replacing the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC). The CrPC provided for the procedure for arrest, prosecution, and bail.

One of the major changes brought about in BNSS is the mandate for forensic investigation for offences punishable with seven years of imprisonment or more. Forensic experts, the new Act says, will visit crime scenes to collect forensic evidence and record the process.

Speaking to The Telegraph Salt Lake, WBNUJS vice-chancellor Nirmal Kanti Chakrabarti said: “Demand will rise for forensic experts now. Every district subdivision will need to employ a forensic scientist. We had seen this coming. So we started this course two years ago.”

Opinion had been sought from law universities three years ago before the promulgation of BNSS when the National Law University, Delhi, was collecting legal opinion on criminal procedure reforms as the nodal agency appointed by the home ministry. “We too had sent our inputs on being invited to do so after holding several seminars and deliberations,” he said.

The course material includes areas that are vital in crime detection like serology (the scientific study of serum and other body fluids), forensic anthropology, ballistics, cyber forensics etc. “We are the first national university to offer a B.Sc LLB in criminology and forensic science,” he said. It is a five-year course.

The other course, on data science and data protection science, will start from the current session in August. “The orientation for students was on Wednesday. We are holding it in association with the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Haringhata, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Kalyani, and Cognizant Technology Solutions, Bangalore,” Chakrabarti said.

This course is in response to the data protection law (Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023) enacted last year. “It is a two-year master’s degree. All LLB graduates can apply for it.”

The orientation programme for the new course on data science and protection law underway at NUJS on Wednesday

It is the sixth specialised LLM course offered at NUJS. “We already have LLM courses in technology law, property law, criminal and security law, business and corporate law as well as international and comparative law. Data science is the sixth,” Chakrabarti said.

From next year, the university is planning to offer a data science and data protection law course to all science graduates and professionals working in this field handling big data, like in banks and IT companies. “We will devise a bridge course on the legal background for them. It will be an executive programme which is likely to take place in the weekends and in a hybrid mode. We will start next year.”

The curriculum for the post-graduate course is being developed and the university will await the University Grants Council’s directive on what kind of certification to give the pass-outs. “According to the new National Education Policy (2020), we have to allow flexibility for credit transfer if a student wishes to study one semester elsewhere,” the vice-chancellor said.

Campus expansion

Two floors with 60 rooms are being added to the NUJS building. The Public Works Department has been at work for some time and work is expected to finish by the year-end.

“We have four storeys currently. But our building foundation is fit for a G+7 structure. Once the two floors are ready, the new courses will shift here,” he said.

Like the forensic science classes, the new data science course will be taught at the university’s second campus. “We have rented two floors of the BSNL’s Telephone Bhavan near City Centre,” Chakrabarti said.

NUJS has also rented two hostels in BSNL’s training institute. “Though all undergraduate students get hostel seats, currently we cannot give space to all our postgraduate students. Many stay on rent as paying guests nearby.”

The authorities are hopeful of accommodating all students on campus shortly. “The government has given us a one-acre land adjacent to our current campus. It used to belong to the KMDA (Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority). Another hostel will be built there. The PWD is planning the layout. We will not need the rented second campus then,” the vice-chancellor said.