Chotanagpur Law College in Ranchi has come a long way in academic and allied achievements. A Telegraph file photo

Ranchi, Sept. 28: As many as 1,500 aspirants appeared for this year?s entrance test for admission to the Chotanagpur Law College. Out of this, 320 managed to clear the exams and their roll numbers were released even to the media.

They came from all parts of the state and beyond and many of them had decent to very good academic records, confided the college authorities.

This is a refreshing change from the past, when people from all over the country would converge here to appear at the law exams without attending a single class.

One could get admission at any time of the year, could appear for exams without attending classes, could take the answer sheet home or anywhere outside the examination hall or could always ?hire? people to write the exams for them. All for a consideration of course.

Those who decided to appear for the exams, were allowed to consult books and copy answers. Wasn?t that the American system, they cheekily inquired. In any case, they would philosophically add, lawyers have to consult books all their working lives. So, what was the big deal if examinees consulted guidebooks?

In sharp contrast, no student can now appear for the L.L.B. degree examination without completing the required six semesters and without appearing for examinations at the end of each semester.

Unlike in the past, classes have become regular and every evening at least four classes are held for each year. No longer are students found loitering in Upper Bazaar because the teachers had failed to turn up.

Even the college library is open to the students between 8 am and 2 pm and a fair sprinkling of students can be seen in the reading room. The college has also introduced practical classes and moot courts for the budding lawyers.

Principal, Raj Kumar Walia, is happy with the changes. If the momentum is maintained, believes the proud principal, the college could actually emerge as one of the finest centres of legal education in the country. Students from the Chotanagpur Law College, he pointed out, had been faring well in the various moot courts held in various parts of the country.

Established in 1954, following efforts by several local lawyers, it is one of the oldest law colleges in the region with S.K. Sahay as the founder principal. Initially, the college was affiliated to the Bihar University and thereafter to Ranchi University. The librarian, Ravi Parasar, claimed a steady increase in the number of people frequenting the library. The quality of students, he concedes, is now far better and they do not use the library only at examination-time.

The library has 9,000 volumes, he informs, including the high court and Supreme Court judgements. Former students of the college, too, are allowed to use the library.

The secretary of the governing body, Dr R.P. Sahu, said with the winds of change blowing across the college, the body is seriously toying with the idea of converting the college into a ?National Law College?.

A four-acre plot, he informed, has been identified and acquired at Namkom and a sum of Rs 12.60 lakh has been sanctioned by the body to put up boundary walls around the plot. Once the building is ready, he declared, the college would start a five-year law course there.