Away from the clamour of the city, yet right at its very heart, stands a place that no page of Thiruvananthapuram’s history can leave behind. One of the oldest law colleges in the country, it has lived not just as an institution of learning, but as a space where freedom, friendships, art, politics, and countless passions have found a voice, reported Parvana KB of The New Indian Express.
Shaded by greenery, the spacious campus at Barton Hill occupies the historic Highland Bungalow, once the residence of Walthew Clarence Barton, the first chief engineer of the PWD. Here, learning was never just from textbooks.
The campus has shaped generations, its spirit carried far beyond the gates. From its corridors walked out men and women who became leading lawyers, judges, teachers, artists, and visionaries.
Now, marking 150 years, Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram, resembles a matriarch who has seen it all, still alive with purpose, still guiding generations to dream, fight, and create.
A brief history
The story began in January 1875, when the Travancore Government sanctioned a ‘law class’ at His Highness’ College, enabling students to take the Madras University Law Examination.
W E Ormsby, Barrister-at-law, then a judge at the Sadur Court of Travancore, was appointed professor of law, and he opened the class that February. By 1894, it grew into ‘His Highness Maharaja’s Law College’.
The college was first affiliated to Madras University, later brought under the Travancore High Court, and with the formation of the University of Travancore in 1938, shifted under university control.
In 1949, it moved briefly to Ernakulam, but returned to Barton Hill in 1954. The postgraduate course was launched in 1962, and the five-year LLB in 1984–85. Today, it is a permanent institution under the state government.
Justice C S Rajan, an alumnus of the college, points to the college’s long-held prestige: “At that time, there were only two law colleges in south India — one in Madras and the other in Thiruvananthapuram.
Eminent lawyers from the High Court were directly appointed as principals here. Well-known civil lawyer E Subrahmanya Iyer and the famous criminal lawyer Malloor Govinda Pillai served as principals of the college.”
For Sindhu Thulaseedharan, dean (faculty of law), University of Kerala, the heart of the college remains its teachers. “The campus is very special to me. What stood out the most was the sincerity of the teachers,” she says.
“The close connection we shared with our teachers not just deepened our bond with the campus but also shaped us in many ways. It was their dedication that inspired many of us to choose the teaching profession.”