MK Nambyar SAARC Law Centre

About

The M.K. Nambyar SAARC Law Centre was established at NALSAR under the patronage of Mr. K.K. Venugopal (Senior Advocate) in 2003. The Centre was revived in January, 2024, with the appointment of Justice S. Ravindra Bhat as the Chair of Comparative Constitutional Law Studies. The Centre seeks to focus on academic research, writing and deliberation on issues of Indian constitutional law, comparative constitutional law and other legal issues common to South Asian nations.  MK Nambyar SAARC Law Centre for Advanced Legal Studies established with generous grant of Rs.1.5 crores from Mr.K.K.Venugopal, M.K.Nambyar Trust received a Recurring annual grant of Rs.15 Lakhs for the year.

Our Work

Academic Research

The Centre’s activities began with the publication of a Call for Papers in July, 2024, on the theme of ‘Law and Democracy in South Asia.’ The scope of research is to examine how the law, whether legislative, executive or judge-made – has sustained and protected structures of constitutional democracy in the South Asian region. Conversely, how has the law weakened or eviscerated structures of constitutional democracy in the South Asian region?

In South Asia, these questions cut across many themes, such as the role of institutions and actors (the political executive, bureaucracy, etc.), and relationships between the union and state governments, to name a few. The Centre proposes to produce papers across South Asian countries looking at these questions across themes. Accordingly, contributions were invited from early career scholars (masters or doctoral candidates) based in SAARC and other South Asian countries. Thus far, 16 participants have submitted paper proposals, which are in the process of being workshopped.

As part of its commitment to support research on South Asian comparative law, the Centre has been holding monthly seminars to discuss the participants’ works in progress. Two seminars have been conducted so far; the first led by Prof. Sitharamum Kakarala, and the second by Prof. Tarunabh Khaitan and Prof. Dinesha Samararatne on the methodology of comparative public law research in South Asia.

A workshop will be held in May, 2025 for participants to discuss their papers. Each participant will be assigned a discussant, an academic in the field invited by the Centre, who will share in depth feedback on the participant’s paper. The discussant will lead the discussion on each paper, after which the other participants will be invited to share their feedback.

Research Support

A research proposal was received by the Centre, from Dr. Swaraj Paul Barooah, for carrying out a 9 month study on “The Political Economy of Cancer Treatment in India: An Intellectual Property Perspective.” The research proposal aims to lay out and review the IP landscape insofar as it interacts with the political economy within which cancer treatments currently exist. Vis-à-vis patents, the project seeks to examine and analyse the patent status of relevant drugs, generic availability, licensing possibilities, and barriers. In addition to patents, the project will also look into the role of trade secrets, tech transfer, and know-how with respect to these treatments. The research will consider issues of access to healthcare and the right to health, in this context. The project aims to provide a 360-degree overview aimed at understanding and identifying areas for improvement in understanding and deploying IP law and policy to positively impact the overall cancer treatment ecosystem in India. The research is being conducted under the auspices of the M.K. Nambyar Centre, with funding and research support being provided by the Centre.

Essay Competition

In September, 2024, the Centre announced an essay competition for students, on the following topics:

1.  Redrawing Constituencies: Delimitation and Constitutionalism;
2.  Defining ‘Forests’: Balancing Environmental Conservation with Sustainable Development

Over 40 entries were received from students across India, and are presently in the process of being evaluated. Three winners will be chosen, for cash prizes of Rs. 50,000, Rs. 35,000 and Rs. 20,000 respectively. The winners will also be placed in internships at the chambers of Senior Advocates at the Supreme Court of India.

M.K. Nambyar Memorial Lecture Series

The lecture series under the aegis of the Centre were envisioned as a long-form series, with the speaker engaging with the student community at NALSAR over the course of multiple sessions, on an issue of comparative constitutional law with contemporary relevance. The first lectures of the series were delivered between 29-30th September 2024, by Prof. G. Mohan Gopal, on ‘The Roles of the Constitution and the Supreme Court in India’s Struggle for Democracy’. The lectures are presently in the process of being collated for a publication. The lectures have also been made publicly accessible on YouTube.