JGLS Sonepat professor of law, Prof Pritam Baruah, is to join BML Munjal University as its new law dean after his predecessor in the position, Prof Nigam Nuggehalli, is expected to join NLSIU Bengaluru as its registrar soon.
Baruah specialises in legal philosophy, political philosophy, constitutional law and regulation, according to his LinkedIn profile.
We have reached out to him, BML Munjal and JGLS for comment.
Baruah had become a full professor this year after six years at JGLS as an associate professor.
Before that he was a research scholar at the University College London for four years, where he also completed a PhD.
After graduating from Nalsar Hyderabad in 2005, followed by a BCL in Law from Oxford University in 2006, he then practised for two years before the Supreme Court of India, entering academia proper in 2008 as an assistant professor at NUJS Kolkata.
Nuggehalli, a 1997 NLSIU graduate, was appointed dean of the Hero group sponsored’s BML Munjal law school in 2019, as the first academic and alumnus from a national law university to run a law college.
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In the case of NALSAR, FM - I speak as a (not-so-uninterested) outsider - has done a decent job running the institution:
- the faculty may not be the best but are pretty much a top3/5 place on the count,
- they do have a robust system of inviting outside scholars for short courses ([i]this is how I know the place[/i]),
- the students do not seem to have a major problem with him or his running of the place ([i]in my limited conversations with a small group[/i]), and
- the institution seems to be on good terms with the state government/state high court ([i]I speak of this with some knowledge[/i]).
If he wants a third term, he'll get one in the name of continuity ([i]something which is seldom bad[/i]). This will give NALSAR time to allow one of its alumni to be ready* in 2027 (Pritam, Anup) or one of the internal younger candidates to be eased into the administrative side (Vasanthi, Neha Pathakji). This will also allow some of the much younger people to be senior enough to hold important positions in the place - like Registrar, Acad Dean, Exam chair etc. - like Sidharth Chauhan or Sudhanshu Kumar.
In such a scenario, whoever comes in as VC will have an able senior-ish team to work with.
* none of them will meet the Prof+20 rule by then either. Out of the four names offered, Prof Vasanthi would be the only one eligible. She is 'somewhat' capable now (definitely wasn't when I was studying there a decade or so back).
FM has his strengths and weaknesses. One of his strengths is public visibility, especially due to appearances on Ravish Kumar's show, his popular 'Legal Awareness Web' Youtube channel and numerous opinion pieces published in the leading newspapers and websites. That has made him India's most well-known law professor, at least among the general public. His internal administration has been pretty decent by Indian standards. He holds regular open-house meetings with students and the elected student committees are consulted for most decisions about semester schedules, campus management and library procurement. On the financial side, his earlier decisions of starting a MBA programme (2013) and expanding the BA-LLB intake from 80 to 120 (2015) and then to 140 (2020), have actually helped the University to negotiate the COVID-19 pandemic without reducing salaries for teachers and staff. They are also now starting an Integrated BBA-MBA programme which will add more than 300 students over the next 5 years and improve the institution's revenues. The Distance Education Programmes are also growing, with several new diplomas started in areas such as ADR, Contracts and Financial Regulation attracting healthy enrolment numbers. After several years of austerity, the Telangana Government has released generous grants to complete the construction of new hostel blocks, expansion of the dining area and more classrooms in the coming years. For the most part, FM has left academic decision-making to Prof. Amita Dhanda and allowed younger teachers their own space to teach, to organise programmes and to invite scholars and practitioners from outside. Since Prof. Dhanda's retirement a few months ago, her administrative role has been bifurcated between Neha Pathakji (Undergraduate Chair) and Sourabh Bharti (Examination Chair). Prof. Vasanthi is now the Postgraduate Chair (responsible for LLM) while Prof. Dhanda is continuing as the Research Chair (responsible for PhD). They also now have several reliable people who are clearly being groomed for administrative roles in the future.
On the negative side, FM has not acted against some of the non-performing teachers, especially the people who habitually cancel classes, do not read projects and simply dole out easy grades to students. Faculty attrition has been a continuous problem, but much of that boils down to younger teachers leaving for PhDs abroad or better pay at private law schools such as JGLS.
On balance, FM has been much better than most NLU VCs and even alumni seem to be forming a good impression of him. I really cannot think of anyone among the other NLU VCs or Senior Law Professors who can readily replace him. Perhaps it is best if he stays in Shamipet till March 2027. By that time, several younger Law Professors such as Mrinal Satish, Arun Thiruvengadam and Sarasu Thomas will be eligible for VC positions. NALSAR will probably have to wait till the 2030s for one of its own alums to become VC.
UGC norms ftw! (I say that with sarcasm)
Moreover, the vipers who are already there would take it as a slight to their empty ego given his age and competence, and make Pritam's life hell. I am his well wisher and I don't want him anywhere near there. That place was finished administratively the day PIB started allowing giving up autonomy to the state.
Will it be better than at Jindal
Nigam has certainly not been with them for "at least 3-4 years down there". Also, when you say "much better", I'm interested to know what are you comparing the law school relative to.