"It is possible to impose a very severe punishment, so many other things could’ve been done but they did it as a kind of positive interaction so we decided this"
What is positive interaction??? Ragging is ragging. there are strict laws against ragging and the law makes no exception for "positive interaction"

You call this punishment? The guy is an adult. He should be named, shamed and expelled or the VC should resign. As it is the VC has broken the law by not expelling him.

And this is news? Slow news day, LI?

I think this has to do with the prevalence of extreme filth in the hostels and having to wash your own plates. It is indeed character building. I love to do it all the time. In fact I offer to do it for most of my seniors. Also I am planning on opening this new start-up which shall teach people how to clean their seniors' egos.

Till then all hail some brilliant bloggers from this college who enticed me to join this college over a much better one.

First the VC whitewashed that unfortunate incident of a student dying and now this. This VC is the worst ever. And now he sn inducting political aides of Mamata Banerjee in the governing body, as recently reported in the press.

And just for the information, that student has brought laurels to NUJS in the mooting arena and has founded a very popular society in the university. So if that gentleman is banned from doing what he does best just because of that "alleged" ragging, it is rather sad and very unfortunate to say the least.


And what he did? He told him to get food? THIS IS INSANE!

And the Registrar and the VC are the biggest studs that this university has ever experienced. I must say!

LI pls get your facts right. The picture portrayed in the story is not exactly an accurate one.

Hi Kian,

Do you think these kind of stories make your website interesting? A very good example of misleading and preposterous media reports!

Hahaha..this is both funny and sad. Is asking a first year student a case of "alleged ragging"? I still do it and i do that in NUJS. Go book me for ragging!

Please disregard the earlier comment, it was not made by me but someone impersonating me.
As for that someone 'dude, get a life and be at least bold enough to use your own name'

It is really sad that the university authorities are 'banning' people from taking part in the extra curricular activities for the "alleged" ragging. And Kian, this is just very timid journalism, i must say. Get your facts right before you publish these stories.

Hi Kian,

This is concerning NUJS student's involvement in the ragging case. I think you should refrain from publishing these kind of stories. As far as I know, this senior student is very good in academics and has always been in good books of our fellow faculty members. I ask you-Is it the right form of journalism? Should you present only one side of the story? I have been personally involved in this whole episode and i know exactly what happened there. This senior students has an exemplary record. So I opine that you should present the other side of the story too. Otherwise, it is nothing but bad journalism.

Also, facts are wrong. This same order of punishment has come out against TWO third year students and TWO fifth year students. So please check before publishing these factually incorrect reports.

best,
Faculty Member, NUJS.

I think Kian should worry for his life now...

I think the whole student body is aggrieved at the handling of various cases.

1. Wasim Iqbal case- The way Registrar handled it was really bad..who does he think he is? He thinks that he can say whatever he wants to? We are thinking of writing a complaint to Mamata Banerjee..

2. The ragging case-"Exemplary punishment"- What about when [...] You talk about rules? Eh please! Let's not allow us to wash your dirty linen in public?

3. [...] Where did the rules go,sir?

So, this is mal-administration and needs to be checked. These two people are ruining our college..and dare you say anything useless against our dear batchmate who's won accolades for your university!

Shame on the administration! [...]

I would request LI to file an RTI and ascertain the facts of this incident and other ragging incidents at NLSIU, NALSAR etc in the past 10 years. This should not be a on-off sensationalist story but the media must make a concerted effor to tackle ragging. Someone should highlight this incident to anti-ragging activists and demand explanations from the VC and Registrar. [...]

there is nothing called alleged ragging, it is an absolute liability offence where there can be only one punishment - expulsion. If the report is to be believed the senior asked the junior to fetch him some food. If the junior thinks that this is ragging then it is ragging as defined under the UGC guideline. Till recently I was part of a NLU and i have seen the deplorable manner in which seniors treat juniors in mess hall. however one has to also remember that punishment has to be proportional, in case there was only one off incident of 'request' from senior to junior then expulsion could be too heavy a price, however if there was repeated incidents then it needs to be dealt more severely than mere suspension from activities. And previous good character should count nothing in cases of 'alleged ragging'. Thus to sum up, depending on the ground situation the authorities have to take decisions, but it should not look as if the offender has been let off too lightly.

Hi Kian,

I think you haven't yet replied to my previous comment. I really think you should investigate the whole matter again and contact the right people in the administration to let you know the veracity of the facts. Hearsays don't really make stories. Apart from this brilliant third year student who has been unfortunately targeted, there were other third years and fifth years who have been involved and punished. So, if at all, you have to report this...you should really investigate the matter thoroughly and rectify this report.

Regards,
Faculty Member, NUJS.

To All the Readers of LI

It is good to have the FACULTY MEMBER, NUJS as a GUEST to put down his comments.

One question to the FACULTY MEMBER ---

Why you had been silent when glaring illegalities were happening in NUJS?

Are you a FACULTY MEMBER in NUJS to protect LEGAL EDUCATION or to protect ILLEGAL EDUCATION?

Why don't you come forward with a WHITE PAPER on the matter that has happened in NUJS during Prof. M.P. Singh as VC?

Don't say that you don't know anything.

Be honest to yourself and your LEGAL EDUCATION.

Please don't unnecessarily bring this issue here. It was just a matter of asking somebody to get food. That's the only offense what he has been found guilty of.
I know for a fact that even two fifth years have been banned and then there's another third year who has been expelled from the hostel. Are these harsh punishments even called for? That too when both the victim and the accused persons have kissed and made up? Why is the administration encouraging hostility in the hostel?

As a student of one of the first batches of NUJS (when legendary Prof Madhava Menon was around), I find it disgusting that such an incident has occurred and even more that some students and perhaps faculty are trying to defend this. Over the years it has seemed more ad more that the work we put in into building up a friendly atmosphere in NUJS (go compare with NLS) is down the drain.

Working 14,000 km from Kolkata I was not at the scene of the incident. But obviously something did happen, and it obviously affected the junior student sufficiently for him to go complain. And certainly the university did conduct an investigation and obviously there must have been some degree of truth to what he alleged for such action to be meted out. I know how administrations run, given a choice they will prefer not having negative publicity. So I don't believe for a moment that it was "harmless talk" or "Casual teasing"or any shit like that.

Ragging is a serious problem (not only in NUJS) and universities must show zero tolerance of anything approaching it. During my LL.M., I observed that the JD class seniors were extra careful not to pick on the freshmen and even some incidents like forcing a song or a drink could result in suspension. Further, I think the message to go light on punishment on account of mooting record, etc. is utter hogwash. No student can expect leniency due to these factors and moot courts are not a substitute for character building. Seems to me this guy got off lightly; Prof Menon would have suspended him from hostel, possibly barred him for a longer term and threatened (thought not carried out) expulsion.

Lastly, I don't know which faculty member would be silly enough to ask for censorship, if at all it is a faculty member. He or she should instead work towards building up a culture of trust in the university. Oh for the good old days!

It's just making nothing out of the issue. What? That guy just sent somebody to get food and this spineless junior has complained against him? Tch tch...shame on the junta of NUJS. They cry it to the media! What has happened to NUJS since we passed out? Stupid juniors, rather! These kind of juniors should be really shown the way how to behave.

It is appears from the reporting of LI that an inquiry was started by NUJS vice chancellor Professor Ishwara Bhat on the above matter.

One fails to understand why Professor Ishwara Bhat is not moving forward on the all the illegalities that has happened in NUJS during Prof. M.P. Singh as VC. Is he trying to protect Prof. M.P. Singh?

Why has this conversation come to an abrupt end. We were discussing some serious issues before it got derailed by some idiots. What is crucial is the atmosphere in the hostels after this admin action. Is ostracization the new norm?

None of the issues of NUJS will be derailed. All issues are to be raised and addressed by the AUTHORITY of NUJS. They cannot just remain silent.

the decision of the university has resulted in ostracization and isolation of the accused. Be sure that no incident even close to ragging will now be committed in NUJS.