Kerala Law Academy (KLA), also referred to as the Kerala Law Academy Law College, is a self financing

law college Legal education is the education of individuals in the principles, practices, and theory of law. It may be undertaken for several reasons, including to provide the knowledge and skills necessary for admission to legal practice in a particular ...

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, India. Founded in 1967, it is the first, and was for many years the only, self financing law institution in the state. It is accredited by the

Bar Council of India The Bar Council of India is a statutory body established under the section 4 of Advocates Act 1961 that regulates the legal practice and legal education in India. Its members are elected from amongst the lawyers in India and as such represents ...

. and affiliated to the

University of Kerala University of Kerala, formerly the University of Travancore, is a state-run public university located in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chit ...

. KLA has both the three-year and the five-year

LL.B Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

programs (under the graduate stream of study) and the

LL.M A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

and M.B.L programs (under the post-graduate stream of study). The college has an active Moot Court Society and students of the society has also participated in various competitions held outside India. KLA also conducts a

legal aid clinic A legal clinic (also law clinic or law school clinic) is a legal aid or law school program providing services to various clients and often hands-on-legal experience to law school students. Clinics are usually directed by clinical professors. Le ...

to provide legal assistance to members of the underprivileged sections of the society.

History

Kerala Law Academy was registered as a society on 17 October 1966 and inaugurated on 21 October 1967. In 1968, the college started functioning under the

in the same year.

Notable alumni

K. Balakrishnan Nair Kesavan Nair Balakrishnan Nair (born 12 April 1948) is a former Judge of Kerala High Court, serving from 2001 to 2010. He was born on 12 April 1948 and was educated at L.P.G. School, Trikalathoor; N.S.S. U.P. School, Mannoor; St. Thomas High Sch ...

Raja Vijayaraghavan V. Raja Vijayaraghavan Valsala (born 28 May 1967) is a judge of the Kerala High Court. The High Court of Kerala is the highest court in the Indian state of Kerala and in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep. The High Court of Kerala is headquartered at ...

Murali (Malayalam actor) Muraleedharan Pillai, popularly known as Murali ( ml, മുരളി, 25 May 1954 – 6 August 2009) was an Indian film, stage and television actor and author. He mainly appeared in Malayalam films and a few Tamil films and also many other mov ...

Mukesh (actor) Mukesh Madhavan (born 5 March 1957), known mononymously as Mukesh, is an Indian actor, film producer, television presenter, and politician who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil-language fi ...

Balachandra Menon Balachandra Menon ( ml, ബാലചന്ദ്ര മേനോൻ) (born 11 January 1954) is an Indian actor, director and script writer. He made a number of films in the Malayalam films of the 1980s, 1980s and Malayalam films of the 1990s, ...

M. Swaraj M Swaraj (born 1979) is an Indian politician of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and was a representative of Thripunithura constituency in the Kerala Legislative Assembly. He was the former Kerala State Secretary of Students' Federation o ...

John Brittas John Brittas is an Indian politician, Journalist, managing director of Kairali TV (Malayalam Communications, Ltd.) and former Business Head of Asianet Communications. He was born on 24 October 1966, in Kannur into Alilakuzhy family in Pulikuru ...

* C. S. Sujatha *

K. Muraleedharan Kannoth Muraleedharan (born 14 May 1957) is an Indian National Congress politician and MP from Vatakara, Kerala. He is the son of Congress leader K. Karunakaran. He was elected as an MP from Kozhikode constituency (1989, 1991, 1999) and fro ...

* A. A. Rahim (politician) *

V. D. Satheesan Vadassery Damodaran Satheesan (born 31 May 1964) is an Indian politician from the Indian National Congress, representing Paravur Assembly Constituency in Ernakulam District, serving as Leader of the Opposition (U D F) in the 15th Kerala Legis ...

Devi Ajith Devi Ajith (born 28 March 1973) is an Indian actress, dancer and a television personality in the Malayalam film industry. She is known for her roles in ''Trivandrum Lodge'' and ''Immanuel''. She is also seen in a short film named ''Virgin Road ...

Mithun Ramesh Mithun Ramesh (born 4 May 1981) is an Indian actor and television presenter working in Malayalam films and television. He is also a radio jockey on Hit 96.7 FM in Dubai. He made his acting debut in 2000 with the film ''Life Is Beautiful''. In 2 ...

K. N. Balagopal Kalanjoor Narayana Panicker Balagopal (born 28 July 1963) is an Indian Politician belonging to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), who is serving as the Minister for Finance, Government of Kerala and Member of Legislative Assembly represen ...

Anil Panachooran Anil Panachooran (20 November 1969 – 3 January 2021) was an Indian lawyer, poet and lyricist, who worked in the Malayalam film industry. While undergoing treatment for COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in India, he died on 3 January 2021, f ...

K. Rajan (politician) K. Rajan ( ml, കെ. രാജന്‍) is an Indian politician and Minister for Land Revenue, Survey and Land Records, Land Reforms, Housing, Government of Kerala. He is a member of Communist Party of India. He is a legislator from Ollur ...

Binoy Viswam Binoy Viswam is a Rajya Sabha Member representing the Communist Party of India (CPI). He is the national secretary member of CPI. He was the Forest Minister in the Government of Kerala during 2006–2011. He was earlier elected to the Kerala L ...

* G. R. Anil * K. K. Ragesh *

Prabha Varma Prabha Varma (born 2 August 1959) is a poet, lyricist, journalist and television presenter. Biography PRABHA VARMA Poet, littérateur, lyricist and editor who works with traditional as well as electronic media, cultural activist – Prabha ...

Kadannappalli Ramachandran Kadannappalli Ramachandran (born 1 July 1944) is an Indian people, Indian politician and President of Congress (Secular), Congress (S), and the current Member of the Legislative Assembly (India), MLA of Congress (Secular), Congress (S) represen ...

Anoop Jacob Anoop Jacob (born 16 December 1977) is an Indian politician and a Member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly and Legislative Party leader of the Kerala Congress (Jacob), a constituent of the UDF political alliance.http://kaumudiglobal.com/inne ...

V. S. Sunil Kumar V. S. Sunil Kumar (born 30 May 1967) is an Indian politician and the former Minister for Agriculture, Kerala. In 2011, he was elected from Kaipamangalam constituency and in 2016, from Thrissur constituency to Kerala Legislative Assembly. He ...

V. K. Prasanth Adv. V. K. Prasanth, popularly known as 'Mayor Bro', is an Indian politician belonging to the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He was born and raised at Kazhakootam, Thiruvananthapuram. In 2015, aged 34, he was elected to the Kazhakoottam ward ...

Simon Britto Rodrigues Simon Britto Rodrigues (27 March 1954 – 31 December 2018) was an Indian politician and writer. He was an Anglo-Indian member in the Kerala Legislative Assembly during the term of Left Democratic Front government from 2006 to 2011. Early life ...

Shanimol Usman Shanimol Osman is an Indian politician from Kerala. Shanimol was elected as M.L.A to Kerala legislative assembly from Aroor on a by-election in 2019. She is the first woman leader from Kerala to become the secretary of All India Congress Commit ...

P. V. Kunhikrishnan Pulleri Vadhyarillathu Kunhikrishnan (born 22 May 1967) is the judge of Kerala High Court. Early life and education Kunhikrishnan is the son of Malayalam actor Unnikrishnan Namboothiri. Kunhikrishnan completed his schooling from Korom Devisahayam ...

* V. S. Sivakumar * K. Suresh Kurup * M. Vincent * A. M. Ariff * V. Sivankutty *

V. G. Arun V. G. Arun ( ml, വി. ജി. അരുൺ) is a judge of the Kerala High Court. The High Court of Kerala is the highest court in the Indian state of Kerala and in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep. The High Court of Kerala is headquartere ...

* Anil K. Narendran *

Joy Thomas Joy Thomas is an Indian politician and currently the President of the Kerala State Co-operative Consumers Federation Limited. Early life Joy Thomas was born in Idukki, Idukki district of Kerala in a Syro-Malabar, Syrian Catholic Christians ...

* K. Vinod Chandran *

K. P. Rajendran K. P. Rajendran (born 3 November 1954) is an Indian politician, State Executive Member of Communist Party of India, and National Working Committee Member of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC). He was the Minister for Revenue and Land Reform ...

Thomas Unniyadan Thomas Unniyadan is a politician, former MLA and former Government Chief Whip of the Govt. of Kerala. He is at present the Deputy Chairman of Kerala Congress. He was a member of Kerala legislative assembly from Irinjalakuda from 2001 to 2016 ...

Eldhose Kunnappilly Eldhose Kunnappilly is a politician from the state of Kerala in India. He is a member of Indian National Congress party. He was elected to the Kerala state legislative assembly in 2016 from the Constituency of Perumbavoor. He was also the Dist ...

Controversy

In January 2017, students of the institute protested and launched a strike against what was described as "anomalies in the allocation of internal marks and inhuman treatment to students and even caste discrimination". Matters escalated as students claimed they were denied permission to organize a solidarity protest against

Nehru College of Engineering and Research Centre Nehru College of Engineering and Research Centre (NCERC) is a private engineering college situated in Thiruvilwamala in Thrissur District of Kerala, India. The college is approved by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) New Delhi a ...

, where a student committed suicide following alleged harassment by the college management. Protests turned violent and 15 cops were injured during a protest march. The students accused principal

Lekshmi Nair Aishwarya Lekshmi (born 6 September 1990) is an Indian actress and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films. She won several accolades including One Filmfare Award South and 3 SIIMA Awards. She made her acting debut with 2 ...

, who is also a celebrity cook and television anchor, of not devoting enough time to the academic affairs of the college and later demanded her resignation. Lekshmi Nair denied all allegations in a press conference. The Syndicate of Kerala University has decided to send a committee to check the situation and as the committee submitted their report, the Syndicate decided to debar Lekshmi Nair from conduct of exam work for the next five years. Following the committee report, both big parties in the congress decided to support the students in their struggle. Soon after this, a criminal case was registered against Lekshmi Nair under the SC / ST Prevention of Atrocities Act for harassing a student by calling him by his caste name. As protests entered their fourth week, the

Government of Kerala Government of Kerala is the subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision ...

ordered a probe into land utilisation issues by the college. The land owned by Kerala Law Academy a society, was allotted by the state government intended for educational purpose only. The profit gathered from the law college was used to buy a property near Kerala government secretariat trivandrum and used as residential commercial flats. NIA identified gold scam concerned with Swapna Suresh and others used these flats for conspiracy. The issues came out after this incident again. To appease the students, the management of the college has decided to remove Lekshmi Nair from her post, but agitation continues as students demanded Lekshmi Nair's resignation. Demands were made to cancel the Kerala University affiliation but these were denied by the university. Protests continued until the state government guaranteed the students they would not let the management reinstate Lekshmi Nair. The criminal case against Lekshmi Nair was withdrawn four months later.

References

{{reflist Law schools in Kerala Colleges in Thiruvananthapuram Educational institutions established in 1967 1967 establishments in Kerala

History

Notable alumni

Controversy

See also

References