Student takes NUJS to Delhi HC for course suspension notification

Thursday, 12 July 2018 By Legally India Law schools

NUJS faces Delhi HC challenge
NUJS faces Delhi HC challenge

The Delhi high court on Wednesday asked NUJS Kolkata to respond to a student’s plea against its abrupt suspension of the course the student was enrolled in at NUJS.

Petitioner Pratham Sharma, who had enrolled for the eight-month long entrepreneurship and business laws diploma offered by NUJS, with service provider iPleaders, had approached the high court after NUJS suspended all its distance learning courses mid-session, allegedly without giving students or course providers any prior intimation or warning of its move.

Sharma commented: “We’re not after the money that we paid in comparison to the value we were getting from the course. [I prayed to the court to] tell NUJS not to revoke the decision [to offer the courses] on the drop of a hat like this and complete [the course for] this batch at least and give authentic recognisable diplomas for this batch. If that is not possible then we better get our money back.”

Justice Siddharth Mridul gave NUJS’ counsel until 1 August to seek clarity from NUJS in the matter, Sharma told us.

Sharma told us that around 3,000 students were likely affected by NUJS’ suspension of the courses but that he was the first of them to challenge the move in court. Advocate Sahib Singh was acting for Sharma.

He said that he had attempted to contact NUJS through calls 60-70 times after the course shut down notification, but all his attempts had failed as the administration was unresponsive. One of his batchmates who allegedly managed to get through to some of the faculty teaching the courses told him that the faculty was clueless about the future of the courses as it is the executive council (EC) which is authorised to take the final decision on them, and they were not members of the EC.

As per the minutes of the EC meeting, which we had published earlier, there is no final decision on NUJS’ distance learning courses yet and discussion has been deferred to the next EC meeting which is due in September.

Full disclosure: iPleaders has previously been an advertiser with Legally India.

Download petition

NUJS KolkataPratham SharmaSiddharth MridulDelhi high court

Comments

Waqt 13 Jul 2018, 06:49
+17 -1
I do understand how an university can refuse to clarify what is the status of a course? It turns out that AC said nothing about closing courses or even suspending anything but recommended that status quo be maintained. EC has not ratified the same but deferred for discussion. On what basis has the registrar issued a notification suspending admissions and old batches? NUJS has truly lost any semblance of sensibility. It seems VC and Various registrars are randomly doing anything they want to do without caring about any rules whatsoever.
Columbus6 15 Jul 2018, 05:48
+3 -0
The administration is not even able to offer an explanation to what they did or are trying to do. Does this mean they are arrogant or just that they have nothing to say?
Green Lantern 13 Jul 2018, 06:53
+16 -2
This institution was once headed by three of India's most respected scholars (Menon, Chimni, MP Singh), once had some of the best profs in the country, won the Vienna moot in only its second year of existence, was granted a plot of land in a prime city location that no NLUs have ever got, was once projected to one day overtake NLSIU. Tragic to see what is happening now. Bhat is solely responsible for plundering the institution and sinking its standards. Having fled to his beloved Karnataka, he has left vultures from all directions, whether pro-Bhat or anti-Bhat, to feed on the bloodied, wounded body that remains. We can look back and blame the old SJA for not launching the strike 5 years earlier, emulating NALSAR's battle with Veer Singh. Or, we can pressure the current SJA to make a desperate attempt to rebuild the institution and repair the damage done --- by insisting that the VC position be publicly advertised ASAP and resisting attempts at appointing a mediocre clown.

The clock is ticking....
Guest 13 Jul 2018, 07:03
+14 -0
iPleaders can simply approach another law school to accredit the course, especially one of those recently granted UGC autonomy, such as NLUD, NALSAR and Jindal. I'm sure many law schools will be happy to enter into a partnership with them. The students affected can get their credits transferred retrospectively.
bengaltiger 13 Jul 2018, 15:45
+4 -0
iPleaders is offering courses independently without any University. Working with universities is very difficult as they inevitably indulge in a lot of buereucracy, delay in payment etc - it is better to offer courses directly without any university involvement. If the courses are good and people learn the practical aspects of law (which universities fail to teach) there would always be takers.
Guest 14 Jul 2018, 00:31
+2 -0
But having a university tag attracts more students (CV value, a sense of assurance etc).
NLIU Ex-Student 17 Jul 2018, 15:45
+2 -0
Infact NLIU Bhopal is in advanced talks with IPleaders.
Anonnn 13 Jul 2018, 07:32
+7 -16
distance learning though third parties is preposterous. It like any tom dick and harry can crowdsource materials and give some course and claim to be offered by the elite institution (as per claims)! However having initiated this farce, the university should at least complete the present batches, or offer money back, or at least have a rationale for their actions and a plan for proper closure.
Insidius 13 Jul 2018, 07:52
+5 -0
The news on the corridors at NUJS is that the registrar has instructed the lawyer to give a refund to the student who filed a case on the spot during the next hearing so that NUJS can avoid taking a stand on this issue. If other students (from Delhi only) do not join the petition, by impleading themselves in the matter, the saga will prematurely end with a masterstroke from NUJS. Then you can continue to wait for clarity till EC meeting in September, which may not decided anything once more and defer the matter again. Hence, act now or suffer. Surprisingly none of the lawyers from Kolkata who are doing this course dared to take NUJS to court. It seems they are scared of the powers that be at NUJS and Kolkata judiciary.
Third Party Person 13 Jul 2018, 10:51
+3 -18
First of all this petition is filed in wrong court so should be banned. Correct court is Learned Kolkata High Court.

Second of all alumnis has no automatic right to offer course. Course may be per rule of UGC with faculties having PHD or NET qualification and course duly prescribed by Learned Bar Council of India. We may also see truth is that 90% alumnis is against such course. Only few wants it.

Third of all public universities cannot give education for private profit but rather non profit basis for public good with minimum cost.

Fourth of all it is appreciated that internal matters is not taken up in public without known full facts. Discussion is always welcome but it need be in proper channel.
alumnus 13 Jul 2018, 16:36
+6 -3
your content and tone suggests that you must be one of the mediocre teachers recently recruited. Tell the VC that alumni are not offering courses automatically. These courses have been launched by the University. and as you can see from the terrible quality of other distance courses offered by NUJS that it is not capable of running online courses on its own.

Also, you are clearly not very familiar with law beyond first principles. There is a whole jurisprudence of case laws which says that if cause of action arises in jurisdiction of two HCs then the petitioner can approach either. That's why Hon'ble Delhi HC has agreed to hear the case. Go read Sonu Sardar v. Union of India. IT Act says that in case of online channels where the recipient of services is situated, cause of action arises there.

NUJS has been offering these courses for its own profit. And if it doesn't want to offer courses why doesn't it close out the courses properly like any responsible VC will do, instead of harassing thousands of students? This Acting VC seems to have a GOD complex.
Guest 14 Jul 2018, 04:51
+0 -0
@Alumnus: I'm fairly certain TPP was being sarcastic. I agree with all the points you have made, in any case.
Guest 14 Jul 2018, 06:07
+10 -0
Yes, UNICEF has clearly said that even if NUJS wishes to restart the Centre once again, they will not be interested. Whether it's a private body like iPleaders or a reputed international organisation like UNICEF, it seems all the outsiders bear the same level of goodwill towards the current administration, as well as the institution. Not only that, faculty and researchers on contract haven't even been receiving their salary for the past 3 months! The current administration is all about doing nothing good in the garb of status quo and transparency. At the same time, when it comes to taking superbly bad decisions like suspending examinations after calling outsider students from across the country, they are behind no one.
alumni2 14 Jul 2018, 06:58
+5 -0
i don't think it was sarcasm. Like the alumnus, said, it is some faculty. Not a recent one though. going by the lack of grammar, poor sentence construction and ignorance of law, I infer that it must be one of those esteemed senior professors of the university. also ties up to that its them who are against these courses.
Columbus6 15 Jul 2018, 05:51
+2 -0
Must be AKP.
Proof Read 13 Jul 2018, 11:43
+3 -0
(a) What is the point of blacking out address details of the petitioner (Page 5), when you do not take the same precaution in other places (Page 23 for instance);

(b) looks like the petitioner is only 2 years old as per his affidavit in Page 23.
kianganz 13 Jul 2018, 11:46
+2 -0
Lol, indeed. :)

Thanks for pointing out, have redacted the address there too now.
Insidius 13 Jul 2018, 18:05
+15 -0
Nujs also got blacklisted by UNICEF under the current VC. Kian please write about that.
Guest 14 Jul 2018, 05:00
+2 -0
[quote] Update 21 May 2018: We have reached out for comment to former SJA president Arjun Agarwal, who was present at the EC meeting. He said:
....
The appointment of Justice (Retd.) Amit Talukdar has brought a breath of fresh air to the campus. Finally, the students are being heard by their Vice Chancellor. Under his leadership, the Executive Council and Academic Council have already been appraised of some of the very many serious matters that they might have earlier been kept in the dark about due to a concerted effort by the former Vice Chancellor and a few of his aides.
...

We feel that Justice Talukdar, himself having served the Executive Council as an external member, is best placed to help bridge the information gap between various stakeholders and these Hon’ble statutory bodies.

We further thank the Executive Council for bringing changes in the Registrar (Acting) and AR (Administration) positions. Consequently, we expect a responsive, transparent and invigorated administration with a change of guard in both these vital positions in conjunction with the leadership of Justice Talukdar. [/quote]

https://www.legallyindia.com/lawschools/bhat-to-face-inquiry-at-nujs-resolves-executive-council-as-goes-for-administrative-rinse-in-latest-meeting-20180518-9355
Insidius 14 Jul 2018, 05:57
+1 -0
This distance course saga has exposed the reality of current NUJS administration.
Guest 14 Jul 2018, 06:01
+15 -0
Exactly! If one follows the comment thread to that post, that ex-SJA President and his cronies came out vehemently in support of the new administration, shouting down people who spotted at the very beginning that insofar as the Acting VC goes, something was rotten in the state of Denmark, etc. While the SJA did a fairly good job of protesting against PIB, they have done a great disservice to the institute by their next petition (which wasn't something that had even been shown the GB before it went to the EC), which had the effect of closing down all distance courses and research centres and making the administration believe that keeping everything at standstill was the best thing to do, regardless of the harm it causes to the university. Even now, the SJA hasn't managed to apply any effective pressure for implementing the review commission's recommendations (not even those that the EC has approved), nor is it being insisted that the selection process of the new VC be initiated asap in a transparent manner with public advertisements etc. It exactly looks like as if the predictions of the people, who said that the SJA was being used to simply remove PIB and not do anything good for the reform of the university, are actually coming to fruition! Which is sad, because students actually have all the power that they need to bring positive changes. Only they do, in fact.
Guest 14 Jul 2018, 06:45
+0 -0
Kian, why didn't you post the comment I made to this one in reply? Those were all facts that were mentioned.
Fortune Teller 14 Jul 2018, 18:06
+3 -0
Here are my predictions for VC:

High odds:
NK Chakrabarti
Paramjit Jaswal

Medium odds:
Ved Kumari (DU Dean)
JK Das
AK Poddar
Manoj Sinha
VK Unni (IIM C)

Low odds:
Shamnad Basheer
Sudhir Krishnaswamy
Sarasu Thomas
V Umakanth
Guest 15 Jul 2018, 03:40
+11 -0
Half of these names are not even going to apply. Your predictions are of the same stature as those who foresaw Italy winning the the 2018 Football World Cup.
Alien 18 Jul 2018, 12:21
+0 -1
Half of these names or more arent even eligible under UGC rules. But I wouldnt expect you to know any of those rules and details.
DU ALUMNUS 15 Jul 2018, 10:17
+4 -1
IF PROF. VED KUMARI AGREES TO BECOME VC OF NUJS, THAT COULD BE THE BEST FOR THE LAW SCHOOL. SHE CAN PROVE TO BE EVEN BETTER THAN PROF MP SINGH.
Guest 15 Jul 2018, 13:44
+2 -0
Correct. She is facing a hard time at DU because of ABVP thugs. She should be invited to head one of the NLUs, where the students are serious. She is an honest administrator and an accomplished academician. I don't think any of the NLU VCs right now tick both these boxes.
Lodha09 15 Jul 2018, 11:31
+6 -0
But why would these scholars apply?? The departure of Bhat showed how political the student body at NUJS has become and how the SJA has become a puppet for the incompetent faculty and the incompetent students to avoid accountability with some "gentle" help from the state government. Nobody in their right mind would want to be VC at NUJS and take such shit from faculty & students. Anyone who thinks that Shamnad, Umakanth or Sudhir will come as VC are living in fool's paradise. My prediction is that the worst of the worst will apply for VC and make it.
BIS 15 Jul 2018, 13:38
+4 -0
The next VC will be a puppet. Further, the review commission has suggested the appointment of two deanship posts, below the VC. In all likelihood, two of the current regime will get these posts.
FBI 16 Jul 2018, 04:38
+5 -0
Interesting news:an anonymous email has been circulated among some faculty members with a full copy of Mr Particular's PhD thesis, scanned by Turn it in, along with a copy of the new UGC rules on plagiarism and misconduct. This is a veiled warning by the Mafia to the present regime not to get too aggressive, or there will be retaliation. It may actually be a good thing if the two camps balance each other. It increases the chance of a neutral VC who will not take sides.
Guest 16 Jul 2018, 07:07
+17 -0
What about the handful who actually just want to teach, without getting involved with either camp? Those are the only competent people left here for the most part, and they are gradually looking to leave.
Visitor 16 Jul 2018, 14:06
+8 -0
Better for their sanity if they leave.
Guest 16 Jul 2018, 14:58
+8 -0
One of my batchmates is still teaching there and the only thing that's keeping him there is some form of idealism and love for his students. We all keep asking him to shift to better prospects, because frankly, the present environment seems to have become too toxic to do anything positive. It can certainly change over time, if a good VC is selected and he is strong enough to withstand all the internal and external politics, but it's going to be quite difficult, since any strong reformatory action is also going to be opposed by a bulk of students. It's really quite disheartening how an extraordinary institution is actually getting eroded. More than anyone else, I blame the EC and its members, who have over the past 7-8 years not taken a single decision good for the institution.
Bhaijan 17 Jul 2018, 02:25
+1 -8
Dear, nobody teaches for love. Everyone teach for money or career. Your batchmate is not a fool and he is teaching because he needs money to earn income and no other option is available. If he left this job what he will do? Is he qualified for anything else? Dont talk in air.
Guest 17 Jul 2018, 08:13
+5 -0
Sorry, but many people do teach for a love of teaching and quality of students. Otherwise why have some NLU grads declined JGLS offers to teach at NLUs at much less pay?
Guest 17 Jul 2018, 08:22
+1 -0
@Bhaijan: Actually, the person I referred to has refused offers from both foreign firms as well as Indian firms, in house jobs, as well offers to teach and research at universities both abroad and in India. And before you say it, yes, I don't really understand why. I wouldn't have done it myself.
222 17 Jul 2018, 11:56
+2 -0
I know who you are talking about. This person teaches a compulsory subject. This person has an offer to join Jindal in Jan 2019 to teach this compulsory subject.
4th year 17 Jul 2018, 18:28
+14 -0
A superb example of similar person is Dr Tilottama ma'am. She refused a professorship at Oxford (Meghnad Desai Professor of Comparative Competition Law) and more than one occassion she said no to Jindal Global Law School only because of her love to teach competition law at NUJS. Last year she was on shortlist to become Additional Jamadar General but she insisted that her work at NUJS was too important. If we have 3 more like her NUJS can easily overtake NALSAR in the NRF rankings.
Guest 18 Jul 2018, 06:54
+1 -0
LOL. She seems to have a big "fan club" among LI readers.
Old timer 17 Jul 2018, 08:25
+9 -0
I was a part of the first batch that Mr Rather Particular taught over a decade or so ago, when he was hired as an ad-hoc . We made him cry in the first week. He burst into tears and left the class --- I'm not kidding. The VC at the time met us and admitted that he was facing a faculty crunch, and this guy was only a temporary hire. He promised to hire a good teacher. Subsequently, our man learnt the tricks of the trade. He started handing out high grades and getting excellent feedback from students. So he was made a permanent teacher. And now, it seems he is eyeing the VC or Dean position.
Guest 17 Jul 2018, 09:36
+4 -0
@Old Timer: I know this entire incident, but would like to differ on one point. That person wasn't made permanent because he got good feedback. This is one of the worst legacies of Prof. MP Singh, who otherwise has done a lot for the university. During his time, every single person, from teacher to DEO to attendant, was made permanent at one go. Regardless of quality. The entire institute will keep suffering for that for a long time still. Case in point, only one person working in the accounts department is actually trained in accounting and can read financial statements properly. None of the DEOs has proper computer training. I can go on.
Guest 17 Jul 2018, 11:59
+1 -0
Very well said. Spot on. There be should be an enquiry against MP Singh regarding this and he owes every one an answer. He should be accountable like everyone else. He did this just before leaving, as a popularity stunt.
Particular 17 Jul 2018, 13:12
+4 -0
Apparently, AKP is planning a new journal once again, called International Journal of Global Legal Studies and Jurisprudence Law Review. Not a joke.
Guest 18 Jul 2018, 05:50
+2 -0
@SJA
Dear SJA can you put an end to this "ACTING REGIME"?
Guest 18 Jul 2018, 05:52
+1 -0
@Kian
Why have you deleted the comment titled "PIB OUT, JUSTICE IN"? Ar you afraid of this acting regime at NUJS?
International student 8 Aug 2018, 04:44
+1 -0
I sincerely hope the University will swiftly and speedily sort this out in an amicable way.

International student.
Guest 8 Aug 2018, 05:20
+1 -0
The only thing this administration does swiftly and speedily is to spoil the name of the institute with the passage of every single day.
Commenting is closed for this article.