Wearing his education on his visiting card can be quite a tight squeeze. What’s printed neatly also sits fairly lightly on the shoulders of Dr. Gajendra Raj. Six Masters degrees in Law – Labour, Contract, Crime, Constitution, Property and IPR, followed by a PhD and LLD in Law, three Masters degrees in Arts and Commerce, two MBAs in Finance and Human Resource Development, a post graduate diploma in Criminology and Forensic Science are among his long list of literary exploits.
For the Dean of Bharath Institute of Law in Chennai, all his academic epaulettes have not catapulted him into an ivory tower of snobbery. Down to earth and remarkably affable, he puts out his mobile number in the public domain and personally takes calls from every applicant to the law courses in the Institute he helms, owned by former DMK Union Minister and two time Member of Parliament S.Jagathrakshakan. Small wonder that while many private colleges struggle to fill seats, he rustles up a full capacity, year after year. The USP of his style of teaching is practical orientation. So his students don’t merely end up producing internship certificates during their course but are also quizzed on the nitty gritty of filing, court procedures and even topography like the distance and time taken to walk to the Chief Justice’s Court from the City Civil Court building!
Having clocked 22 years in legal education, Dr.Gajendra Raj has delivered over 200 lectures on law as a Visiting Professor at various institutions in India and abroad with his academic odyssey taking him to Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Middle East, France, Switzerland and Italy. The legal eagle represented his Institute at the 2019 Asia Pacific Regional Law Deans’ Forum in Shanghai, China hosted by theKoguan School of Law recently. Not content with his string of degrees, his focus now is on creating global exposure for his law students and putting Chennai on the international legal education map.
(Sanjay Pinto is an Advocate practising at the Madras High Court, a Columnist, Author, TV Political Analyst, Public Speaking Mentor & Former Resident Editor – NDTV 24×7)
