It has been no secret that every year when various publications come out with rankings of educational institutions, there have been various concerns regarding the methodology adopted. Yet, there has been no discernable reaction or steps taken by anybody from the legal industry against the unfair practices used.

Professor Shamnad Basheer and students of the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), Kolkata has now written to the Outlook publication regarding their methodology used to rank colleges, specifically law colleges. The letter calls upon the Editor-in-Chief, Vinod Mehta to look into the discrepancies of the methodology and to make it more transparent for a more responsible list of ranking. Saying that a large number of students depend on these rankings, it is important to maintain journalistic standards. The letter also goes on to say that if professional ethics are not met, proceedings will be launched against the publication with the Press Council of India under the Press Council (Procedure for Inquiry) Regulations, 1979.

The letter also lists 8 flaws in the Outook rankings and provides a detailed methodology of the disparity in the rankings. Professor Shamand along with students of the 3^rd year, Debanshu Khettry and Shambo Nandy are the authors of the letter.

A copy of the letter can be found here.

Read Editorial: Three-way shoot out on the methodology of law school rankings.