Chanakya National Law University (CNLU) is a state public university devoted to legal education and research, located in Patna, the capital of Bihar, India. It is one of the National Law Universities (NLUs) established by individual Indian states to offer integrated undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in law, modelled on the framework pioneered by the National Law School of India University, Bangalore.
| Key Facts | |
|---|---|
| Name | Chanakya National Law University |
| Abbreviation | CNLU |
| Type | State public university |
| Discipline | Law |
| Location | Patna, Bihar, India |
| Country | India |
| Named after | Chanakya |
The university is named after Chanakya, the ancient Indian teacher, jurist and political strategist traditionally associated with the Mauryan Empire centred at Pataliputra, the historical predecessor of modern Patna. The choice of name reflects both the institution's location in Bihar and its orientation towards legal and policy studies.
CNLU was established by the Government of Bihar through state legislation, in line with the broader national movement to set up specialised law universities across Indian states. Like other NLUs, it functions as an autonomous institution offering professional legal education and is recognised within the Indian higher-education framework.
The university's principal offering is the integrated five-year undergraduate law programme, which combines studies in law with the social sciences and humanities. It also offers postgraduate degrees in law and supports doctoral research. Admission to the integrated programme is conducted through the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), the centralised entrance examination used by the National Law Universities.
The university is situated in Patna, the administrative capital of Bihar. Patna lies on the southern bank of the Ganges and has historically been a centre of learning, governance and law in eastern India.
CNLU forms part of the network of National Law Universities that has reshaped legal education in India since the 1980s by emphasising a clinical, multidisciplinary approach to law. As Bihar's dedicated law university, it contributes to legal training, research and access to the legal profession in the eastern Indian region.