President Ram Nath Kovind today presented the Padma Bhushan to Dr. Neelakanta Ramakrishna Madhava Menon for Public Affairs. His wife received the award in his stead.
Dr. Menon is known as the ‘Father of Indian Legal Education’ for conceptualising the five year dual degree LLB course and National Law University model of legal education. He founded the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in 1986 in Bengaluru at the invitation of the Bar Council of India.
He also went on to serve as the Founder Vice-Chancellor of the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences from 1998 to 2006 and as Founder Director of the National Judicial Academy at Bhopal till 2006.
Prof. Menon passed away in 2019 and had earlier been honoured by the Padma Shri in 2006.