Exclusive: NUJS Kolkata assistant professor Dr. Prabhash Ranjan has joined NLU Jodhpur as associate professor, after a disagreement with the college administration about seniority and increments, as NUJS faculty member and Nalsar and LSE graduate Chinmayi Arun will join NLU Delhi.
Ranjan was on three-year study leave without pay since November 2009 to pursue his PhD at King’s College London and was scheduled to rejoin NUJS in November 2012.
However, on 4 June 2012 he sent the college’s new vice chancellor (VC) Ishwara Bhat a four-page resignation letter, a copy of which was seen by Legally India after it was circulated to a list of NUJS faculty. [Download letter]
According to his letter, the college’s executive council (EC) had, after “lengthy bureaucratic deliberations”, noted in May 2010 that Ranjan had served the college “with distinction” and continued to take an active interest in NUJS while he was at King’s.
The EC had resolved in that meeting that “as per law the seniority and increments of Mr Ranjan shall remain unaffected after he rejoins the office and is confirmed”, of which the former NUJS VC MP Singh had also assured him, according to Ranjan’s resignation.
However, Ranjan claims in his letter that in February 2012 the NUJS registrar’s office told him in writing that on rejoining NUJS in November 2012, he would be on the same pay grade as he was when he left for his PhD in 2009. The college also said that he would have to continue to serve a probation period, which he had been on for 16 months at NUJS before leaving for London. Future increments and seniority would be subject to confirmation of the probation.
Ranjan noted in his resignation: “The very fact that I shall be on probation after joining back, despite having served the University to the best of my ability since 1st November 2007 on all fronts - teaching, research or administrative responsibilities - undermines my honour and self-esteem.
“This would adversely impact my career prospects despite having performed to the best of my ability.” Given the “total uncertainty” about whether his service record would be taken into account, Ranjan said in his letter he was “not left with any other choice” but to resign.
NUJS: No irregularity
NUJS’ registrar Surajit Mukhopadhyay commented: “Prabhash Ranjan resigned while on leave. Once he had joined his dues would have been cleared. He says that it [his basic pay] should be enhanced. I was surprised to hear that.
“He asked for enhancement after the UK. I hold a PhD from the UK. I am a commonwealth scholar, and I went there on a bond for three-and-a-half years, and came back and joined on probation of one year; so I have a personal experience and I am not overawed by his qualifications from the UK.”
Mukhopadhyay told Legally India that Ranjan was due to re-join the university on 1 November 2012 and, according to rules that were followed at all national law universities, only after his re-joining could the vice-chancellor (VC) and the registrar have placed the case for recovery of his dues and monies before the executive council (EC).
Since Ranjan never re-joined, said the registrar, no gross irregularity had taken place.
In the email addressed to his colleagues, Ranjan remarked: “In the name of following technical and bureaucratic rules, the University appears to have completely disregarded my academic and research accomplishments and the commitment that I have shown to my job. I consider this unfortunate, regrettable and heart-breaking!”
Jodhpuri pastures new
Ranjan declined to comment specifically on his resignation when contacted by Legally India but said: “Legal academics in our country do not get the kind of attention they deserve. The traditional mind-set in our law schools is that people who are not good lawyers come to academia; whereas people like me and many others are here by choice.”
He told Legally India that the “forward-looking” attitude of retired judge and NLU VC NN Mathur had influenced his decision to take up the Jodhpur post. “He does not run the place in the traditional conservative way; it is the kind of system we see in the corporate world.”
Mathur said that out of the total 45 faculty presently at NLU Jodhpur, 25 per cent boasted LLM and PhD qualifications from foreign universities. The law faculty comprised of 23 faculty members, teaching both LLB and LLM courses. IP Massey is the college’s senior-most faculty member, with teaching experience of 50 years, followed by V Seshaiah Shastri with 24 years of teaching experience.
The college boasted a full-strength of faculty, said Mathur, but added: “I am constantly on a lookout for good faculty.” Jodhpur’s “continuing process” of faculty-recruitment closely involved the university’s students, with the resumes of potential hires being circulated among the students before decisions were made.
Ranjan had first joined NUJS as an assistant professor in 2007, after nine months as a research assistant at University College London (UCL), and positions as consultant to British non-governmental organisation (NGO) Oxfam, visiting faculty for two years at Indian Law Institute Delhi, and one year as a researcher at CUTS Centre for International Trade Economics and Environment in Jaipur until 2004. He graduated from the Campus Law Centre of the University of Delhi in 2003.
In his resignation letter, he said: “I shall always cherish the time I spent at NUJS, the love and affection of my students and my colleagues and the encouragement and affection of Professor M P Singh. I consider myself fortunate that I got the opportunity to serve NUJS.”
Ranbir calling
NUJS faculty member Chinmayi Arun, who had graduated from Nalsar Hyderabad in 2006 and worked with Ernst & Young and AZB & Partners before completing her LLM at London School of Economics (LSE) in 2009, will join NLU Delhi.
It is understood that her move is not related to Ranjan’s but she was not available for comment at the time of going to press.
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All I can see is that NUJS lost one of its best faculties to Jodhpur. Im sure Mr. Ranjan is smart enough to decide whats best for him.
Lucky for NALSAR they have Faizan Mustafa at the helm of affairs and are set to regain some lost glory.
Anyways I hope this trend does not affect the remaining faculty at NUJS and I wish them all the luck.
...
These VCs and deans are experienced academicians who have served big institutions for long periods and know what they are doing.
...
MP Singh had a vision. The new VC, Prof. Bhat too has a vision. The visions could be different; but that difference in direction of the growth, in speed of the growth is what helps an institution evolve and grow anew.
...
The goods of the previous vision should essentially be emulated in the new vision.
But the new vision should also be able to help grow the institution in an unexplored direction.
That is why leaders across board are replaced after some time.
...
However, sometimes, visions clash due to ego issues; that is when things go wrong.
At the same time, the NUJS' student body is one of the most proactive bodies in the law school circuit (along with NLSIU).
The proactive-ness generally absorbs most of the bureaucratic blows. And that is why we have an NUJS and an NLS.
Nice story !
As an alumnus, I assure you it was.
I am entering my final year at NUJS and can tell you this is how the man actually talks, pretty much all the time. Like everybody else owes their existence to him. Pity he has no perspective beyond his ego.
You're just miffed he takes a strict stance in matters of hostel discipline :P The registrar is actually a pretty good administrator, current story notwithstanding.
Ranjan Sir is a very good, engaging teacher. His resignations means that we've lost a talented teacher and a liberal, fair warden.
Unfortunately, students have always had to work against the administration, and until this year when he left, Professor Singh would overrule decisions that he believed were unfair to the student body.
Now that he's left, it seems that the administration has a free reign, and this is not the first bad decision they have made.
Whoop-de-fc**in-do
Lol...why so hostile dude...how did I piss you off? I'm sure good teachers are hard to come by. The point I'm making is that Prabhash is not one. Have been taught by him for 2 semesters....and was not impressed...even back then NUJS had better teachers than him. And you seem to be confusing international qualifications with teaching ability. And you need to calm down a bit lol....if an internet comment can get you agitated so easily.
That's plain ridiculous. P.R. was one of the best trade law teachers the NLS circuit has ever seen. The fact that NUJS had other good teachers when he was teaching doesn't take that away!
All the best sir. You shall be sorely missed by the students at NUJS.
Registrar is seriously [...], i am sure if he is [...] we will lose many more teachers. Common we cant neglect the fact that NUJS is top institute just coz of the best faculty which was built by Dr. M.P.Singh. But the current administration is running the college like a private engineering college.
@21 : That is the eternal truth EVERYWHERE. While mediocre ppl tend to stay on, the better ppl always move on...
finally someone who knows his subjct! looks lik there is still hope fr NLUJ with Mr.Yogesh Pai, Messey sir and Mr.Prabhash :)
More interestingly, now LI is publishing about faculty resignations in law schools too? And that too an Assistant Professor; the lowest rank in NUJS's faculty hierarchy after 1. Chair Prof, 2. Professor and 3. Associate Prof.
Falling standards or dry news week?
The story also shows the power of media. Legally India is what it is because it is willing to cover every aspect of law, including things happening in lawschools. If associate moves can make stories, this one qualifies too. And we love reading this stuff as well.
Which law school did you go to mate? What "action" could they seek - which they couldn't have if he had gone public 'after' the acceptance of his resignation?
Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned,
Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.
As bird-brained as the comment by #27 is, please explain the relevance of the quote to your response?
Hopefully, the new VC(Faizan) will change things around in NALSAR.
Welcome, Mr. Ranjan.
Its not like NUJS is left with mediocre teachers just coz one guys left. Also its not making that huge of a difference that one good lecturer joined NLU-j faculty. Its still the same for both the colleges.
I think the "nalsarite" is talking about the superior navigation skills you need to find your way to god-forsaken shamirpet.
lol
It is no secret that the NUJS administration has been run by proverbial Henry VIIIs for a full decade now. This is hardly the best example of the travesties of justice authored by these superannuated gentlemen.
Ranjan's leaving is also symbolic. He was the first to join among the young academics that Prof. Singh brought in. His joining was the beginning of a great tranformation. We fear his leaving is the beginning of a great exodus of teachers in reaction to the clowns who currently run the university.
Seconded!
Even if Upendra Baxi comes to teach he cannot be paid more than what is permitted by the rules, that would be pure and simple bias.
Surajit Dadu, please don't compare. You did your PhD in SOCIOLOGY from Leicester and taught at Burdwan University and the Centre for Social Sciences. This is an autonomus LAW college.
Just for the avoidance of doubt and to clarify, some comments seem to imply that Dr Ranjan leaked his resignation letter to the media.
Nowhere in the story does it say that, and as far as we can reasonably tell, that was not the case at all. He circulated the letter privately to his colleagues and in fact preferred that we don't republish the letter.
However, we felt that it would be difficult to convey the facts and situation fully without the letter being quoted and/or reproduced.
We normally don't get into sourcing of stories or reasons behind why certain things were published, but hope that clarifies things somewhat.
Best wishes,
Prachi
If that is the case, then pray may I ask how LI got this? Did one of the faculty send it to you? Because last time I checked, uploading private documents in a public domain, irrespective of the nobility of the objective, is not exactly a legal move. No offense meant, of course.
The fact that Sir has left on such a sad note sound the death knell of progressive teaching and research in NUJS. What used to be the playground for dynamic teachers to experiment with their innovative ideas on teaching and research under Prof. M P Singh's guidance will soon turn into a sea of mediocrity. Only someone with a vision to make NUJS reach greater heights will understand the gravity of the repercussions of Sir's resignation. I wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow, most of the better faculty members decide to move to greener pastures where their hard work, passion and conviction towards teaching, research and their students are better appreciated. Today, it may be NLUJ's gain over NUJS' loss but the larger picture is a tremendous sense of betrayal and loss for committed members of law teaching faculty in India. Truly, a very very sad day for the legal profession. Wishing you all the luck with your future endeavours wherever you go Sir!
there's very little one would hesitate to do to console you, Pommy darling.
I am proud to be his student. I can only feel sorry for my juniors to miss such a dedicated and committed faculty. I still cherish my memories in International Patents and Trade Regulation course (IPTR course). It was mandatory to read and attend his class, otherwise one will have to earn Sir's wrath which (of course) was a terribly unpleasant experience...NUJS cannot afford to miss the dedicated faculties brought by Prof. M.P. Singh..I hope the EC will duly consider and bring forth a change in the system.
you'd be better served if you abstain from fashioning your comments this way.
moreover, i object to the title of the article. it underscores the London Phd of the outgoing teacher as great and somewhat unusual. London Phd is no great.
This man has all grit, vim and vigor to stay at NUJS. that, i feel, needs to be highlighted.
ROFL..such comments actually tend to break the chain of monotonous and boring comments/arguments..
NUJS missed out on this one. May the alma mater find better people to attract better teachers.
*passion! PASSION!*
I heard it required formatting ;)
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