On 18 September 2026, the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, entered into an MoU with Prisons and Correctional Services, Government of Karnataka, creating a formal collaboration between the Criminal Justice Clinic at NLSIU and the Prisons Department on strengthening access to justice and prison reform.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Shri Alok Kumar, IPS, Director General of Police, Prisons and Correctional Services, Karnataka; Sri P.V. Anand Reddy, Additional Inspector General of Prisons, Prison Headquarters, Bengaluru; and Advocate Ragini Ahuja, Co-Director, Criminal Justice Clinic, NLSIU.

The Criminal Justice Clinic (CJC) at NLSIU, amongst its other interventions through its lawyers and students, will host legal aid camps in prisons across Karnataka and provide pro bono legal representation to indigent, vulnerable and under-represented prisoners. In addition to legal representation, the Clinic will also work on policy issues such as assisting the Prisons Department in drafting policies for premature release. This MoU creates a pathway for the Clinic to work on long-term structural impact on the criminal justice system. Through this MoU, NLSIU reaffirms its commitment to clinical legal education, giving students hands-on experience in providing legal aid while contributing to long-term reform of the criminal justice system.

Following the MoU and the new partnership, Radhika Chitkara, Assistant Professor (Law) and the Co-Director of the Criminal Justice Clinic at NLSIU, said, “We are proud to partner with the Karnataka Prisons Department to facilitate legal aid for vulnerable prisoners. The Prison Department’s affirmation of periodic legal aid camps in prisons allows the NLS-CJC to deliver competent legal services to those who need it most, while also engaging our students in hands-on pedagogy on criminal justice and rights-based work.”