NLSIU Bangalore’s students have called off their three-day-old strike about the delay in appointment of their new vice-chancellor (VC), after alumni are understood to have received an assurance that the relevant Supreme CLourt judges are expecting the process to conclude shortly.
On Twitter, the Student Bar Association said:
Our protest seems to be coming to a successful conclusion. The following statement was received from an alumnus in conversation with the CJI, who has assured that only procedural formalities are left in appointment and will be completed.
Of course, many a slip ‘twixt etc applies, considering the swirling rumours about the administration and Bar Council of India (BCI) trying to slow down the process; but NLS 2001 graduate Gopal Sankaranarayanan had met with the Chief Justice of India (CJI)-cum-chancellor on and judges on behalf of students earlier today and seems confident (see letter above).
Apparently, the CJI and Justice SA Bobde said that the confirmation of all-but-appointed candidate Prof Sudhir Krishnaswamy only required sign-off by the CJI:
“Only a formal decision is to be taken by the CJI in exercise of the consultation power, which will be out shortly,” reported Sankaranarayanan in his letter to NLS stakeholders.
The judges did however, reportedly chastise the students somewhat, asking them to call off their protests and expressing concern that the students were trying to pressure the executive council (EC).
BCI endgame unclear
They’re not the only ones: the BCI co-chairman Ved Prakash Sharma had written a letter to the CJI with feedback that “students body is crossing it’s limit by trying to question the functioning of the Executive Council and accusing the Registrar by imputing motives on him for allegedly halting the process of appointment [of Krishnaswamy], totally forgetting that the Registrar is also a senior professor of NLSIU and commands respect in the academic circles as an acclaimed teacher of law” (sic as applicable).
On top of that, Sharma suggested: “Neither the NLSIU Act nor Rules permit them [students] to be part of any such process. The role of Professor Sudhir Krishnaswamy behind the present agitation can’t be ruled out. To restore discipline in the campus, the decision to appoint him Vice-Chancellor should be reviewed by the EC and suitable action taken against the students responsible for creating the present situation in the NLSIU campus. It’s high time NLSIU is insulated from elements that pose a danger to the smooth functioning of the best law school built by decades of hard toil by most reputed legal luminaries of the country.”
Furthermore, according to the Indian Express, BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra “has sent in a dissent note” to the EC, “citing Krishnaswamy’s lack of administrative experience”.
The likelihood that students may get the VC they are dreaming of has increased somewhat, but it’s still nowhere near a shoo-in.
Comments
What has changed?
What the hell were the SBA office-bearers thinking?!
Lesser for new NLUs like HPNLU: Media and Legally India are probably your best bet.
http://www.sociolegalreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/SLR-vol-91.pdf
Was it the Registrar and some of the senior professors at NLS who rightly or wrongly delayed Sudhir's appointment?
Was it the EC?
Was it the BCI who had to hear the CJI say the file was with him?
Was it MP Singh who saw his blatant manoeuvring for Sudhir get officially challenged?
Was it the students who should realize that their drama had no effect on the selection?
Or was it Sudhir himself, who if he has any semblance of self-esteem or self-respect should turn down this position. If not he will have to take tough decisions against the same fan club of students who did this tamasha "to support him" and the senior faculty who did another bunch of tamasha "to stop him".
Classic case of everyone being the loser. Except RVR of course.
I request LI to now make it official which faculty member opposed Sudhir, because there is only one faculty member who was on the EC, so by process of elimination it has to be her.
https://indianexpress.com/article/education/strong-support-for-panels-v-c-pick-nlsiu-deserves-well-qualified-academic-6022439/
Should have sat on a hunger strike until VC is appointed.
1. NUJS: Menon (in fact, followed by Chimni and MP Singh, who are just as respected)
2. NLUJ: NL Mitra (who continued Menon's legacy at NLSIU), followed by Justice Mathur (also very good).
3. GNLU: VS Mani (a legendary international law jurist).
NUJS was once regarded as a close second to NLSIU, NLUJ was not far, GNLU was going great guns. Then see what happened when Bhat/Saxena/Patel took over. We already know that JGLS is sneakingly trying to poach people, without respecting any ethics.
The time to act is NOW, because behind the scenes moves have already started. The selection committee is going to be totally biased. It is time to STRIKE and BOYCOTT classes demanding that the process is transparent.
It will be stupid of NLUD students to indulge in conventional forms of "protest" "boycott" etc. In any case only one LLM student had the guts to do something which is making someone nervous about attending convocations elsewhere. Ah, the majesty of Justice and so easily shaken (not stirred?)
I really doubt NLUD has students who will actually stage protests etc to do anything on your suggested lines. Wanna test? Just check if NLUD students can even get hold of minutes and agenda notes of all EC, AC, FC etc. meetings thus far. The hard data will help you now and in future.
Get in touch with RGNUL and HPNLU guys. Collaborate. Also contact HNLU guys who stared down a very hostile state government and elements in the judiciary (at multiple levels). Law as a discipline and as taught and practiced in India cultures most folks to be conservative. So don't expect much love from judiciary and the Bar. By now you must know how things really work....
NUJS students and a former SJA President had made some great suggestions on VC selections (both reported on Legally India). Get in touch with both to know why or how that move was done in by the judiciary while a certain someone who sought to do wonders at NLSIU kept quiet. By the way Saxena got to hollow out NLUJ thanks to this person. We have enough Gods to worship. Don't add more.
(1) Right now, figure out who all are on the selection committee. Get a statement going on the kind of VC you would like to see appointed. Circulate to all EC members and all high court judges. Yes, all. Let them all talk about it. Then create a monitoring committee of students to monitor the selection process. Keep asking what is happening, put pressure for transparency so that applicants are known, their qualifications are in the public domain, do your due diligence and be prepared to protest if it looks like a sub-standard VC is likely to be appointed.
(2) The best VC in the world cannot do you any good without good faculty. A more immediate danger for you is that *before* RS leaves, the top NLUD faculty will also be gone. Some people have already left: Akila was a big loss a few years ago, Chinmayi left recently. Try and stop the others from leaving. I have heard from *very* credible sources that [...] is joining Azim Premji in Bangalore in a few months. [...] will probably follow suit after his DJA stint. In any case, it is highly unlikely that he will come back to NLUD. Perhaps this can still be salvaged? [...] has been speculating about his own place at NLUD. Jindal is looking to poach Arul and Yogesh (I don't know whether they are willing to be poached or not). We all know what these people are facing from the 'old guard'. Maybe this is too late, maybe it is not. But I am sure if all these people leave, then other good faculty will hesitate to join. Discuss strategies around faculty retention and make that the top of your agenda.
(3) The NLS saga came to an end because of an alum. People in my office from NLS have been spending half their time coordinating statements, reaching out to people, and generally making sure that students are protected. Alumni matter. Treat them well. You may disagree with them or think they are wrong. That can be communicated civilly. But if you descend into name calling and hurling abuses which is what happened last time alumni tried intervening, you will lose your biggest support group in the outside world. I am writing on an anonymous platform instead of sending an email for circulation to students only because I don't want to deal with any backlash. Re-consider.
Organize yourselves before it is too late. Though I fear my comments will fall on deaf ears. Still. I have made my attempt and I can go off to sleep in peace!
Unfortunately, several faculty members, including folks considered "friends" of MKS plotted against his return. While most folks assume that politics of state government is to be blamed, elements in the HC also joined the chorus. Quickly the slogan emerged from the powers that be that this time NUJS will have a "Bengali VC". MKS saw the writing on the wall and quietly stepped back and continued with ILI.
The state government was ably supported by a now well-known (not necessarily well-regarded) SC judge. VCV was a shot in the dark by some folks in Delhi who wanted to expand their base of influence. The same group is now gunning for NLUD. But VCV never really stood a chance.
It was clear that given the paralyzing effects of Lord Taluk and his friends in the EC/elsewhere in the state, HC etc and the fiasco involving MKS, NUJS wouldn't attract a good pool of candidates. A party apparatchik was nearly appointed but SJA suggestions and skirmishes with Lord Taluk, AG, Lord Limitless Ray and their minions resulted in the VC process being slowed down. Eventually NKC was imposed. SJA could have done very little against the might of the state and a hostile HC. Please also note that they also had to contend with a 30% domicile quota issue.
CNLU, NUJS, HNLU and even earlier NLU Ranchi suffered judicial administrations. HNLU has seemingly come out of the wringer better. Moral of the story - students can only do so much if the state and HC are ranged against them. Things become a very steep climb when they are additionally burdened with self-serving faculty and admin fat cats.
Hopefully the knowledge of "failure" at NUJS can save NLUD and other NLUs.
Alumni and students wrote against CJI Gogoi on the alleged SH matter. But now SBA cannot (or will not) even muster the courage shown by someone at NLUD convocation. Previously, in several "traditional" universities students who aren't as "special" as us or our alumni have actually gone on stage and respectfully (but firmly) declined, en masse or individually, to accept degrees, medals, citations etc from the hands of powerful folks during convocations.
Not suggesting we do that or anything else (then again why not?). But SBA is now readily "assuring" a red carpet welcome to certain nervous judges who take themselves way too seriously. What are these sudden flip-flops about?
We were already risking so much. What could the powers that be have taken away from us? Why did we stake so much on someone who has happily remained in the shadows and chirps only when convenient? It is our skin in the "game". What did Prof MP Singh and his supposed progeny put on the line?
And to the anti-Sudhir camp - if you have a world of evidence against Sudhir, such as his supposed irregular appointment as Professor at NUJS by Prof Singh etc, why don't you "leak" or splash in media or go to the court? Did you bring this "hard evidence" before Justice Bobde committee? Did he swat it off? If yes, why keep at it?
Sudhir is an established academic etc. But after all this I am not sure if I want someone who let students become collateral damage in this sick game of Chairs.
As for the irregularities in Sudhir's appointment, that's a well-known fact. For the same person to be part of the search committee itself was also an obvious conflict. However, MP's stature together with Sudhir's record cumulatively ensured that those matters would be swept under the carpet.
Our university is one of a handful in Bengal that is national and cosmopolitan in character, and free of the scourge of violent student politics. Our founding Vice Chancellor, Professor NR Madhava Menon, very much intended our university to be modelled on the National Law School of India University in Bengaluru, which he founded 12 years before ours. His successors, Professor BS Chimni and Professor MP Singh,are both academic os similar high standing, and attempted to maintain the high standards of our university.
We are determined that NUJS remains a tolerant, liberal, secular, egalitarian institutions, where the students are welcome irrespective of social or economic status, caste, region, religion, food preferences, linguistic preferences or sexual orientation.