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Regulations for Ph.D. Programme

NALSAR University of Law, HYDERABAD

Justice City, Shameerpet – 500101
Phone: 040 – 23498105 / 115 / 200
Fax: 040 – 23498385 / 386
email: [email protected]

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Approved by the Executive Council on 07-05-2017

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1. Applicability of Regulations: These Regulations will apply in their entirety to the Ph.D.
programme. The integrated LL.M.-Ph.D. programme will be governed by these regulations
to the extent that they do not conflict with those made under the Regulations for the
integrated LL.M.-Ph.D. programme at NALSAR.

2. Constitution of Research Committee

The Vice-Chancellor shall constitute a Research Committee consisting of regular faculty
members of the University and external experts to supervise the admission process and
administration of the Ph.D. programme. The Vice-Chancellor may constitute Departmental
Research Committees if required.

3. Eligibility for Admission:*

To be admitted to the candidature for a doctoral degree an applicant shall have:

a. Obtained a Master‟s Degree or equivalent qualifications in Law, Management or other
cognate disciplines from any recognized University or Autonomous Institution securing
not less than 55% marks or its equivalent. This implies that candidates with qualifications
in social sciences, humanities, sciences and commerce/management may be admitted to
the programme. Similarly, applicants who have passed the Company Secretary
Examination conducted by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) and
awarded the Associate Membership of the Institute (ACS) shall be eligible for admission
to the programme. Likewise, those who have passed the final examination of the Institute
of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), New Delhi and those who have passed the
final examination of Institute of Cost Accountants of India shall also be eligible for
admission.

b. However, the requirement of 55% marks or equivalent at the Master‟s Degree level is
relaxed to 50% marks or equivalent in case of candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes /
Scheduled Tribes / Other Backward Classes (Non-creamy layer) / Persons with
disabilities and other categories as decided by the University Grants Commission (UGC)
from time to time.

c. The Vice-Chancellor may permit a member of the NALSAR faculty to pursue the Ph.D.
programme along with regular teaching responsibilities in the interest of career
development and institutional growth.

4. Procedure for Admission*:

a. The University will decide and notify on an annual basis a predetermined and
manageable number of candidates to be admitted depending on the academic personnel
and physical facilities available, keeping in mind the norms regarding the candidate-
supervisor ratio. The University shall adhere to the National-level reservation policy, as
applicable.
b. Applicants are ordinarily required to appear for an entrance test as prescribed by the
University. However, those who have cleared the UGC-NET/ UGC-CSIR NET
(including JRF) in their respective disciplines will be exempted from writing the entrance
test.
c. The entrance test will have two components, with 50% of its weightage assessing the
aptitude for research and writing skills and 50% devoted to disciplinary knowledge. The

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 first component will be mandatory for all applicants irrespective of their disciplinary
background. It shall test the ability to write professionally and in accordance with
established norms of scholarship. The second component would be based on the
disciplinary background of the applicants.
d. The applicants who clear the entrance test will be required to attend an interview before
the Research Committee.
e. The applicants who have cleared the entrance test will be required to submit a
preliminary research proposal (between 1500-2000 words) with a statement of the
research problem and a literature survey which demonstrates that the issue is unexplored
and an original scholarly contribution can be made on the same.
f. The preliminary research proposals will be scrutinized for plagiarism. If the similarity
index for any proposal exceeds 15%, excluding appropriately cited sources, then the
applicants will not be called for the interview.
g. The applicants who clear the entrance test and the interview will be provisionally
admitted to the Ph.D. programme and will be required to attend the Research
Methodology coursework conducted by the University. The Research Committee shall
allocate a Principal Supervisor for each candidate before the commencement of the
Research Methodology course.
h. Within one month after successful completion of the Research Methodology coursework,
the candidates should submit their revised research proposal to their respective Principal
Supervisors.
i. The candidates who have cleared the entrance test, but did not clear the interview shall be
given one more opportunity to submit their proposal on the basis of the recommendation
of the Research Committee without needing to reappear for the entrance exam.
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{5. Enrollment and Duration of the Programme
5.1 Candidates whose research proposals are accepted after interview shall be registered to the
Ph.D. Programme of the University and in addition to the course work would need to enrol
in the various study programs devised by the University to ensure continuous work on the
doctoral thesis.
5.2 The Ph.D. Programme shall be for a minimum duration of three years, including course work
and a maximum of six years.
5.3 Extension beyond the above limits will be governed by the relevant provisions of NALSAR
Ph.D. Regulations.
5.4 The women candidates and Persons with Disability (more than 40% disability) may be
allowed a relaxation of two years for Ph.D. in the maximum duration. In addition, the
women candidates may be provided Maternity Leave / Child Care Leave once in the entire
duration of Ph.D. for up to 240 days.}

6. Supervisors for research:

a) Apart from the Principal Supervisor, the Research Committee may appoint one or more
faculty members as Co-Supervisors. The Research Committee shall ensure that
Supervisors be competent to guide the candidate and also that they are available for
supervision for the expected duration of the candidate‟s period of study.

b) A candidate shall pursue the programme of study and research as approved by the
Principal Supervisor. This shall include the presentation of a thesis embodying the results
of the scholar‟s research work.

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Amended by the Executive Council on March 26, 2022

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 c) For the award of the degree the thesis must form a distinct contribution to the knowledge
in the subject and afford evidence of originality shown either by the discovery of new
facts or by the exercise of independent critical analytical power.

d) There shall be a Research Advisory Committee (RAC) constituted for the Ph.D.
candidates. The Principal Supervisor shall be the Convenor of the RAC which will have
the following responsibilities:

(i) To review the research proposal and finalize the topic of research
(ii) To guide the candidate to develop the study/design and methodology of research
and identify the course(s) that the candidate may have to do
(iii) To periodically review and assist in the progress of the research work of the
candidate.
(iv) To suggest re-framing of the research topic and changes in the allocations of
supervisors, if deemed appropriate.

Provided that the RAC may be constituted on the basis of subject expertise while
accounting for the resource constraints of the University.

e) The candidates shall appear before the RAC once in six months to make a presentation of
the progress of their work for evaluation and further guidance. The periodic progress
reports shall be submitted by the RAC to the University with a copy to the candidate.

f) In case the progress of the candidate is unsatisfactory, the RAC shall record the reasons
for the same and suggest corrective measures. If the candidate fails to implement the
same, the RAC may recommend termination of the candidature with specific reasons.

g) Only regular faculty members who hold doctoral degrees or equivalent qualifications can
be allocated as Principal Supervisors for Ph.D. candidates.

h) At any given point of time, a Professor cannot guide more than eight (08) Ph.D.
candidates as a Principal Supervisor. Similarly, an Associate Professor cannot guide more
than six (06) candidates concurrently as a Principal Supervisor and an Assistant Professor
cannot guide more than four (04) candidates concurrently as a Principal Supervisor.

i) If the research theme requires the assistance of external experts in any field, the Research
Committee may approve the list of such external experts from time to time. However, an
external expert cannot be appointed as the Principal supervisor for any candidate.
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{7. Course Work, Credit requirements, number, duration, syllabus, minimum
standards for completion, etc.

i. The Credit requirement for the Ph.D. coursework is a minimum of 12 credits, including a
“Research and Publication Ethics” course as notified by UGC vide D.O. No. F.1-
1/2018(Journal/CARE) in 2019 and a research methodology course. The Research
Advisory Committee can also recommend UGC recognized online courses as part of the
credit requirements for the Ph.D. programme.

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Amended by the Executive Council on 21-02-2023

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 ii. A Ph.D. scholar must obtain a minimum of 55% marks or its equivalent grade in the
UGC 10-point scale in the course work to be eligible to continue in the programme and
submit his or her thesis.}
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{8. Timeline for progress in the doctoral programme

(a) Subsequent to their enrolment the candidates will be required to do the requisite course
work which would consist of basic grounding in research methodology, reading-writing
seminars and suitable elective courses

(b) The Ph.D. candidates shall be given a maximum of three months from the conclusion of
their course work to finalize their research proposal under the guidance of their respective
supervisors and Research Advisory Committee.

(c) One year after submitting the finalized proposal every Ph.D. candidate will be required to
present at least one progress seminar every year before the faculty members and other
candidates. The schedule for the seminars will be notified by the University.

(d) At least one week before a scheduled seminar, the Ph.D. candidate should circulate a
research progress report, of up to 3,500-5,000 words, including references.

(e) The candidate will take note of the feedback received at the progress seminar and discuss
the same with their research advisory committee, making whatever changes deemed
suitable.

9. Termination of candidature:
a) If in the opinion of the Research Advisory Committee a candidate‟s progress is not
satisfactory even after three years of submitting the finalized research proposal, they may
report the same to the Research Committee who on concurrence with the RAC could ask
the candidate to show-cause why their registration should not be terminated.

b) The response of the concerned candidate to the show cause notice shall be considered by
the Research Committee which may thereafter recommend to the Vice-Chancellor that
the candidate may be allowed to continue or the candidature stands terminated.

c) After considering the recommendations of the Research Committee, the Vice-Chancellor

may either permit the candidate to continue or terminate the candidature.

d) If the candidate does not respond to the show cause notice, then on the recommendations
of the Research Committee the Vice-Chancellor shall terminate the candidature of the
concerned candidate and the Registrar shall officially inform the candidate of such
termination.

e) On the termination of registration, the candidate may appeal to the Academic Council
questioning the same. Such an appeal should be submitted in writing within 60 days from
the date of receipt of the order.

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Amended by the Executive Council on 05-07-2022

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 The Academic Council on proper examination of the case may either uphold the order or
may reverse it or may take any other appropriate decision as it deems fit.

f) If in the opinion of the Research Advisory Committee, the Ph.D candidate‟s progress is
satisfactory and the candidate has submitted annual reports for the first four years
demonstrating satisfactory work but if the candidate is unlikely to submit his / her thesis
within a year, then the Research Advisory Committee may recommend that such a
candidate be counted as a supernumerary candidate for his / her Supervisor and the
candidate shall be permitted to submit his / her thesis within the time allotted by the
Research Advisory Committee which will ordinarily be before the maximum period
specified in these Regulations.

Extension of time, in exceptional situations, beyond the maximum period as per the
Regulations can be given by the Executive Council on the recommendation of the
Academic Council. Provided that ordinarily extension will not be given beyond six years
from the date that the finalised proposal was submitted.}

10. Pre-Submission Protocols:

a) A Ph.D. candidate must publish at least two research papers related to the area of
research in a refereed peer-reviewed journal and these publications should be recognized
by the respective RAC. The same must be done before the submission of the draft thesis
for adjudication and produce evidence for the same in the form of an acceptance letter or
a printed copy.

b) A Ph.D. candidate must make presentations based on their research at a minimum of two
national or international conferences, and submit evidence of participation in the same.

c) The candidate would be required to firstly submit a draft thesis to the Registrar through
the Principal Supervisor. Before a candidate submits the draft thesis, the Principal
Supervisor in consultation with the Research Advisory Committee must be satisfied that
the candidate‟s work has obtained such level of completion that it can be subjected to a
pre-submission review. The draft thesis will also be subjected to scrutiny to check for
plagiarism.
d) Upon submission of the draft thesis, the Vice-Chancellor, on the recommendation of the
supervisor, shall appoint at least three external examiners, of whom two shall be from
outside the State.

e) The candidate shall on the strength of the draft thesis make a Pre-Ph.D. presentation
which is open to all the faculty and research scholars for comments and the same may be
suitably incorporated into the final thesis.

f) The draft thesis may also be sent to the external examiners for their comments and
suggestions, and such suggestions if received, may be communicated to the candidate
who may with the advice of the supervisor suitably respond to them.

11. Examination of thesis:

a) Before a candidate submits the thesis, the Principal Supervisor in consultation with the
Research Advisory Committee (RAC) must be satisfied that the research output entails an

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 original scholarly contribution and a certificate to this effect from the supervisor shall
accompany the thesis when it is submitted.

b) The candidates shall be required to submit five copies of the final thesis as per the
required format (all the five copies to be retained by the University) along with a soft
copy to the Registrar‟s office. The thesis shall include an abstract of approximately 500
words. The length of the thesis shall conform to the requirements as prescribed by the
Research Committee. The name of the Supervisors of the Ph.D. candidate shall not be
mentioned anywhere in the copies of the Ph.D. Thesis which are sent to external
examiners for evaluation.

c) The thesis shall be in English and shall be the result of candidate‟s own work attaining a
satisfactory standard of effective communication.

d) The entire process of evaluation of the Ph.D. thesis shall be completed within a
maximum period of six months from the date of submission of the thesis.

e) The evaluation/examination of the thesis shall be to assess the candidate‟s contribution

arising out of research on the topic of the thesis. The research output should not
substantially overlap with the candidate‟s work for the award of any other degree at this
University or elsewhere.

f) The examiners shall report in writing in the approved form to the University giving their
assessment of the thesis and their recommendations as to whether the degree shall or
shall not be awarded to the candidate. In the examiners‟ assessment, if the thesis does not
qualify for the award of the degree, the examiners shall indicate whether additional work
should be undertaken by the candidate or whether the thesis should be rejected.

g) If the External Examiners unanimously recommend the award of the degree, there shall
be a viva-voce examination of the candidate conducted by one of the External Examiners
who evaluated the thesis. If required, the viva-voce examination can be conducted with
an External Examiner being at a different location through the use of information
technology (e.g. video-conferencing). In case there is a lack of unanimity between the
External Examiners, the University may facilitate the exchange of the reports between the
External Examiners. If through such an exchange, unanimity is reached between the
Examiners to award or not to award the degree then that decision shall be implemented.

h) Where a thesis fails to obtain the unanimous recommendation of the External Examiners
or where after the viva-voce examination, the viva-voce examiners do not recommend the
award of degree, the Research Committee may decide:

i) to recommend that the degree be not awarded to the candidate ;

or
ii) to recommend that the candidate undertake additional work on the thesis and
submit a revised thesis within a specified period. Only one re-submission can be
permitted.
or

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 iii) to take such action as deemed appropriate before making a recommendation,
provided that in making its recommendations the Research Committee shall be
guided by the opinion of the majority of examiners.

iv) If a scholar fails to defend his dissertation at the viva-voce examination, the
scholar may be given one additional opportunity to defend the dissertation which
shall be final.

i) The re-submitted thesis shall go through the evaluation process described above. If the
re-submitted thesis also fails at the evaluation process, there shall be no provision for a
further resubmission.

j) After the successful completion of the viva-voce examination, the award of the degree is
recommended by the Research Committee to the Academic Council. Once the Research
Committee recommends the award of the degree to the candidate to the Academic
Council, a notification will be released and the candidate may be given a Provisional
Certificate specifying that the degree has been awarded with the applicable UGC
Regulations.

k) The award of the degree will be made at the annual convocation of the University
following the approval of the Academic Council and the Executive Council. The Ph.D.
certificate should have only „Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)‟ along with the title of Ph.D.
thesis.

l) A copy of the thesis shall be deposited in the library which shall be available for
consultation by others either on loan or photocopying forthwith; provided that, in
exceptional cases, the Research Committee, on the application of the candidate and on
the recommendations of the Principal Supervisor, determine that it shall not be available
for consultation by others until after the expiry of a period, which shall not ordinarily
exceed one year.

m) Following the successful completion of the examination process and before the
announcement of the Ph.D. degree, the University shall submit an electronic copy of the
thesis to the INFLIBNET for hosting the same so as to make it accessible to the broader
academic community.
***

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 EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES OF THE 75th MEETING OF THE
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL HELD ON JULY 05, 2022

ITEM NO.19
RESTRUCTURING AND REVISION OF FEE FOR Ph.D PROGRAMME

The Executive Council considering the recommendations of the Finance Committee

accorded its approval for restructuring the fee structure for Indian Nationals and also the
revision of the fee for the Foreign Nationals for the Ph.D. programme as indicated below
which shall be applicable from the Academic Year 2022-2023:

Restructured Fee Structure for Indian Nationals:

Particulars Amount (in Rs.)
1. Application Fee (one time) 2,000
(Rs.1,000/- for SC/ST)
2.Admission Fee (one time) 10,000
3.Tuition Fee (one time) 20,000
Re-registration Fee (beyond 2,500 p.a.
minimum duration)
4.Other Academic Charges
- Library Fee 5,000 p.a.
- Retention Fee 1,000 for every
completed six months
- Thesis Submission Fee 12,000
5.User Charges 67,000
- Room Rent * 24,000 p.a.
- Internet Fee 8,000 p.a.
- Electricity Charges * 12,000 p.a.
- Generator Diesel Charges * 5,000 p.a.
- Water Charges * 12,000 p.a.
- Outsourced Services * 3,000 p.a.
6. Mess Advance * 35,000
6.Refundable Deposits 20,000
(Rs.14,000/- for SC/ST
candidates)
- Hostel Deposit 10,000
(Rs.4,000/- for SC/ST
candidates)
- Mess Deposit 5,000
- Library Deposit 5,000

*The amount for the said heads should be paid by the candidate on pro-rata
basis depending upon the period or periods for which these resources are
used by the scholars.

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Revised Fee Structure for Foreign Nationals**
Particulars Existing Fee Revised Fee approved

Application Fee (one time) Rs.2,000/- USD 75 or

equivalent Indian Rupees
Admission Fee (one time) USD 1000 USD 350 or
equivalent Indian Rupees
Tuition Fee (one time) USD 500 USD 700 or
equivalent Indian Rupees
Re-registration Fee (beyond USD 500 p.a. USD 100 p.a or
minimum duration) equivalent Indian Rupees
Retention Fee Rs.1,000/- for USD 100 or
every completed equivalent Indian Rupees for
six months every completed six months
Thesis submission Fee USD 1000 USD 400 or
equivalent Indian Rupees
**Note: The fee under the other heads will be as applicable to Indian
Nationals.

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