CHENNAI: The city will soon be home to the country’s biggest All India Reporters (AIR) Cafe. set up at a cost of Rs 14 crore, to help students from Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University (TNDALU) refer laws, Acts, legal articles and judgement briefs. AIR, a legal research firm founded in 1914, is constructing the facility at School of Excellence in Law (SOEL) campus, Taramani.“Judges from the Madras high court can also access this cafe, which is likely to be inaugurated on February 2,” T S N Sastry, vice-chancellor, TNDALU said.At present, access to case laws, bare acts or judgments is expensive. Private firms charge nearly Rs 30,000 or more per year. The university spends between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 6 lakh a year to print important topics and distribute it to students. To facilitate access, TNDALU recently tied up with AIR to setup a cafe on SOEL premises on a no-loss-no-profit basis.AIR had previously set up similar cafes in top institutions includng National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, Bar Council of India, Delhi and high courts in Jaipur and Lucknow. The one under construction in Chennai will be the largest in terms of space (4,000sqft) and content.Once registered, users can access digital content in the cafe equipped with legal education research suite, computer hub and reading rooms. AIR coordinators and university staff will assist users during working hours. They can, however, access content 24/7 from their personal laptops or mobile phones using their unique login ID.It will be mandatory for all 3,700 students of SOEL to enroll in the cafe from the forthcoming academic year, Sastry said. First year students will be charged Rs 600 (introductory package) while senior students will have to pay Rs 3,000 (premium package). Students, therefore, will not have to pay the Rs 1,500 study material fee at SOEL.Students from colleges affiliated to TNDALU can also make use of the service at a fee. But enrolment is optional for them, Sastry added.Plans are on to conduct mock trial court sessions and bring top legal experts in the country for seminars and presentations. Certificate programmes and summer internships are also on the cards.The aim is to transform students into professionals so they don’t step out with mere degree certificates at the end of the course, Sastry said.

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