Keralite law student graduates with record 18 gold medals

Bengaluru: A female student from Kerala set a record of sorts by bagging 18 of the 48 gold medals awarded to pass outs of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), officials said on Monday.

While Yamuna Menon bagged 18 medals, 20 others who earned a BA LLB (Honours) degree shared the remaining 30.

"Yamuna became the first student to win the highest number of medals (18) in the NLSIU history," an official said a day after the 28th annual convocation held virtually on Sunday here.

Yamuna won medals for securing the first rank, best outgoing student, best undergraduate student, best outgoing female student, meritorious student, outstanding graduate student, and overall topper.

As an IDIA (Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access to legal education) scholar from Kerala, Yamuna secured admission to the law school through the competitive Common Law Admissions Test (CLAT) with 28th rank in 2015.

Hailing from Ernakulam near Kochi in the southern coastal state, Yamuna was one of the two students to get a scholarship for high ranking in the entrance test.

Yamuna has since secured a seat in Trinity College at Cambridge University for postgraduation in law.

Yamuna's paper on the Sumangali Scheme in the Tamil Nadu textile sector was published in the Cambridge Law Review. She was also editor-in-chief of the Indian Journal of International Economic Law.

"In all, 576 students graduated, including three with PhD, 40 with Master's in Public Policy, 45 in Master's in Law, 77 in BA LLB (Honours) and 411 in distance education programme," said the university in a statement.

Head of Centre for the Study of Law and Governance at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Niraja Gopal delivered the convocation address and focused on the challenges in the post-COVID world.

University Vice-Chancellor Sudhir Krishnaswamy said that the new education policy had set four imperatives for law schools across the country.