Established in 1927, the Gujarat Law Society is aptly hailed as a paragon of an ideal educational institution. GLS was founded by illustrious personalities like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Shri G. V. Mavlankar and Sheth Shri Kasturbhai Lalbhai. With time, society has made phenomenal progress and is regarded as a premier and pioneering educational institution in Gujarat. Sir L. A. Shah Law College is the first law college of the Gujarat State, started in June 1927 and earlier affiliated with the Bombay University, and has the reputation of being the doyen among the law colleges in the Western Region of India.
As its name indicates, the Society was established with the specific purpose of imparting legal training. Before 1927, then bilingual Bombay State, legal education was imparted by Government Law College, Bombay and Law College in Poona. Sir Lallubhai Asharam Shah, a Judge of the Bombay High Court and a native of Ahmedabad suggested to apply to the Bombay University to grant affiliation to a Law College in Ahmedabad. The University granted affiliation and the first institution of its and in Gujarat came into existence and was named after him “ Sir L.A.Shah Law College ”. Since then it has remained the first and foremost Law College in Gujarat and has become synonymous with the “Law College
The University of Bombay recognized the College in June 1935 for coaching students in post-graduate courses for the LL.M. degree examination. A fine, commodious building for the College was constructed at a beautiful site in the Ellisbridge area at a high cost of Rs. 1,60,000/- Rs.in the year June 1937 architecture by Messrs. Gregson Batley & King, Bombay & Engineered by Mr. J.S Malik, B.Sc. (London), I.S.E. The College obtained its permanent affiliation to the University of Bombay in 1947. The College, since its affiliation to Gujarat University in 1950, has been recognized for instruction in Law for the LL.B. and the LL.M. degree examinations.
After initiating the first law college in the state of Gujarat, the trust expanded and began providing education in other disciplines, such as Arts, Commerce, and Humanities, by building various colleges and institutions. With the high demand for Law courses, the trust also opened two other law colleges to cater to law education in the state. Gujarat Law Society also developed pre-primary, primary, secondary, and higher secondary schools to nurture students' education from the beginning of their life. These schools have nurtured thousands of students who are right now in prestigious positions and working for the nation's development.
Sir L. A. Shah Law College remained the only institution of GLS for the first twenty-nine years. The GLS enriched its heritage by opening H.A. College of Commerce (1956), I.M. Nanavati Law College (1958), Smt. L. & C. Mehta Arts College (1958).
Maneklal Nanavati Law College (1961), C.U. Shah City Commerce College (1961), C.U. Shah Arts College (1961), and also N.R. Secondary and Higher Secondary School (1957). Since then, the GLS, in its quick march forward, has come a long way, with thirty-eight institutions teaching and training more than 38,000 students in various disciplines.
With generous donations, the society started offering Higher Education in Arts and Commerce faculties. An Arts Section was opened in 1953 as part of the Law college. In 1956, by the generous donation of "Sheth Shri Charandas Haridas, “Haridas Acharatlal Commerce College ” was started, which has been the leading institution in the faculty of commerce in Gujarat State. In 1958, a Law College was established on the city campus of the society and was called the City Law College, and in 1961, another law college, “New Law College,” was started on the city campus. The city Law College was renamed “I M Nanavati Law College”. Both the colleges were established by the Munificent donations by Late Shri I M Nanavati. City Arts and Commerce College was established in the Lal Darwaja Campus in 1961 and was bifurcated in 1966 after the generous donation of Shri C.U.Shah, a Bombay-based industrialist, both the institutions were named after him as “C.U.Shah Arts College,” “C.U.Shah City Commerce College.” Shri C.U.Shah also offered donation to G.L.S. Mahila College which was established in 1966 and it was renamed “Smt. Sadguna C.U.Shah Arts College for Girls”. The same donor offered generous donations for Pre Primary and Primary English Medium Schools and the institutions are named after him “C.U.Shah primary School” and “C.U.Shah Preparatory School” Sheth Shri Mahendra Kanaiyalal donated a handsome amount in 1963 for English Medium High School and higher secondary school and the School was named after him “M.K. High School and Higher Secondary School”.
Maneklal Nanavati Law College ranks among one of the premier institutions of the Gujarat Law Society, located at Lal Darwaja, the center of the city of Ahmedabad. In June 1961, the College was inaugurated by the first Chief Justice of the High Court of Gujarat, Hon’ble Mr. Justice K. T. Desai. The College was the third Law College established by the Gujarat Law Society to cater to the needs of society. The College was the only afternoon Law College of the Gujarat Law Society at its establishment. Initially, the College was named the “New Law College.” In 1976, the college's name was changed to “Maneklal Nanavati Law College” after advocate Shri Maneklal Nanavati. The late Shri Maneklal Nanavati was an eminent lawyer of the State of Gujarat who started his practice in a small village of Gujarat, Jambusar.
The aim of the College, which has the motto “Lux gentium lex,” i.e., “Law is the light of the nations,” is to spread legal knowledge and develop a legal research culture in society.
The two esteemed girls’ colleges of Gujarat Law Society, Smt. Sadguna C. U. Arts Colleges for Girls established in 1966 & B. D. Arts College established in 1956, the two “Women Only” institutes – were merged as per the directions of the Government of Gujarat and Gujarat Law Society. This merger of the two girls’ colleges is the first in the history of Gujarat Government and as said by Shri Sudhir Nanavati, is beneficial for all stakeholders – the Government, the trust and the college. The new merged entity is named ‘GLS (SADGUNA & B.D.) COLLEGE FOR GIRLS’ abbreviated as GLSGC.
Due to the mammoth efforts, concern about the quality of education, and industry requirements for managerial skills, the Trust’s Honorary Secretary, Late Shri I. M. Nanavati, ran 25 institutions of excellent academic standards from kindergarten to graduate and postgraduate levels and also various professional courses offering quality education to more than 20,000 students every year.
G.L.S. is always ready to meet the challenges of the coming century. Gujarat is always at the forefront of the nation's industrial development. There are hundreds of industries, and business organizations spread all over the State, along with a host of multinationals. The availability of trained managers is the prime need at that time. Against this backdrop, one Business Administration College, established in 1997, is the first step in the direction. A three-year full-time professional course for the B.B.A. degree has started to meet the human resources requirements. It has bridged the demand and supply gap by offering well-trained management professionals in the business and industry sectors. G.L.S. also started the M.B.A. and the MCA Programmes. Afterward, more and more professional programs were developed in commerce, Business Management, Computer Application & IT fields. This august society has the singular distinction of running 30 institutions of multiple disciplines with high academic standards and an enrollment of 28,000 students.
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