The Constitutional Law Society (‘CLS’) is an academic society which was constituted in 2012 by interested students and our faculty advisor, the former Vice-Chancellor, to assist the understanding of Constitutional Law. Its objective is to further knowledge and create a supportive environment for academic discussions and thought about constitutional matters. The CLS that has successfully organised several events, including quizzes, mock parliaments, lectures and discussions by eminent scholars on topics of constitutional law of contemporary as well as historic relevance. We are associated with the D.D. Basu Trust which organizes an annual essay writing competition, currently in its 9th edition and an endowment lecture, currently in its 13th edition. Similarly, the M K Nambyar Lecture is also organised by the CLS, currently in its 8th edition. In the past, we have hosted luminaries in the field such as K.K. Venugopal, Upendra Baxi, and Catherine MacKinnon among others.
The Durga Das Basu Essay Competition held in memory of the eminent jurist and lawyer Shri Durga Das Basu (1910-1997). Dr. Basu was a distinguished Judge of Calcutta High Court. His Commentary on the Constitution of India, written over twenty years ago is still used extensively as the primary treatise on constitutional law. Dr. Basu was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1985. Every year, contemporary topics of constitutional significance are chosen for annual Essay Writing Competition. The themes in the previous years have ranged from the role played by constitutional conventions in India to the use of constitutional power to disqualify a person from contesting democratic elections. This year, the topic has been chosen against the backdrop of the need for promotion of the Fundamental Duties present in our Constitution.
It is the responsibility of each Team to ensure that the “.docx” copy of the submission can be opened legibly with Microsoft Office 2010 or Microsoft Office 2007 and the “.pdf” copy of the submission can be opened legibly with Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Participants shall also clearly mention their names, phone numbers, addresses and name of their College/ University, and course undertaken along with their year of study clearly in the body of the email.
First place: Rs 5000 and merit certificate
Second place: Rs 3000 and a merit certificate
Third place: Rs 2000 and a merit certificate
No participation certificates will be issued.
The essays of all the winners of the prizes would be published on the NUJS CLS blog
Please visit the page of the NUJS Constitutional Law Society page for updates about the competition.
For inquiries, email us at nujs.cls@gmail.com.