NUJS Kolkata has closed its investigation into a student’s allegation of physical assault by a faculty member, allowing the teacher to continue at the law school after a “stern warning”.
On 30 April, final year NUJS student Adreeka Pandey was allegedly slapped by assistant professor Dr Lovely Dasgupta, who was invigilating an examination at the law school. Pandey had entered the examination room a few minutes late and insisted on sitting for the exam despite Dasgupta’s refusal, as reported by Legally India at the time.
Pandey told Legally India that Dasgupta apologised to her orally and in writing soon after the incident, but she nevertheless asked for a disciplinary inquiry by the NUJS administration against the member of staff.
NUJS vice chancellor (VC) Prof Ishwara Bhatt told Legally India yesterday that the law school’s executive council (EC) resolved to let Dasgupta continue working at the law school in her current position after a “stern warning” from the EC, since she had tendered a written apology and “was not involved in such conduct in the past”.
NUJS registrar Dr Surojit Mukhhopadhyay added: “It’s a closure as far as we are concerned. It is not an order, the EC has given a resolution. The EC has the mandate to deliberate upon it. We have taken [the complaint] to investigation and followed the EC’s resolution, our duty has been discharged.”
Pandey said yesterday that the college had not yet told her about the final decision, despite her having made several requests since June.
“The matter was tabled on 15 June in front of the EC and still the order isn’t out,” she said. “I’ve been told I can only personally come to Calcutta from Delhi and take this resolution. I am doing my best to obtain it. I will file an RTI if I don’t get it soon without flying to Calcutta.”
She said that “a warning of some sort” was “completely disproportionate and not befitting of the public humiliation I underwent” and that there was no reason to rejoice about the fact that there is an order “notwithstanding what [the order] says”.
Dasgupta did not reply to an email and calls seeking comment.
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Adreeka was slapped by Dr. Dasgupta.
There are 2 dozen witnesses to prove that.
True that!! The story seems to have been clearly blown out of proportion. There are dozen witnesses to that too
The Shield agrees that the punishment is disproportionate to the humiliation caused to the student in front of her peers
The Shield feels that the SJA should show some spine and reject such ruling. Let the students raise the issue with authorities internally and pass a resolution with the GB protesting such ruling...
If this is allowed to pass, then it is a travesty of justice and resounding slap across the pillars of the university
You mean the pillar of justice in front of the academic block? (shall not use the more colloquial term for fear of being edited out by LI)
Lovely Dasgupta and the very fact that students at NUJS are still subjected to what she calls 'teaching' is a travesty of justice itself. I have had the misfortune of being taught one elective by her. I also have the fortune of being taught only one elective by her. We were pretty much left to our own devices to figure out the subject matter.
To my mind, there is no faculty member more vile. Lack of depth in her understanding of the subject matter, inability to convey concepts, a refusal to accommodate alternative perception and above all, a seeming lack of empathy. While this might be true for a lot of law teachers, this one takes the cake at being the very worst that an Indian law teacher is.
Given that Ms Pandey feels that the decision of the Uni is disproportionate, the SJA must rise to the occasion. Your predecessors brought the Uni to its knees (anyone remember the chicken pox incident?), why cower now? There are ways to make a faculty member leave the Uni out of sheer frustration. It has happened in NUJS before. It can happen again.
Damn WADA!!!
We had watched over this institution many years ago.. we are watching with sadness at the rot that is spreading today because we no longer walk the walls .. We know of the incidents you speak of and we are happy that those legends are not forgotten..
There are ways to take this forward.. guilt has already been admitted... The GB should stand with their fellow mate and RISE AS ONE.. Peaceful means of protest can be adopted.. [Do a token hunger strike maybe.. the mess food sucks anyways]...File a local complaint with the cops, write to the chief justice of India (the supreme chancellor), write to the Executive Council showing them the demerits and the ugly precedent this would set for future generations.
At least if not expulsion, a suspension for at least a couple of months should be imposed to set a strong precedent.. The Reign does not favor expulsion as said individual may never get a job again due to this glaring publicity of events but make an example out of this... for the good of the community, the students and the institution...
Lastly..We and our brothers will come back one day .. We will not let the institution be consumed by this shame... ARISE, AWAKE and MARCH FORTH...
Dude, which top-tier law school doesn't? It's almost entirely terrible, except for a few gems here and there.
SJA - please pass a resolution to boycott all classes of Lovely Dasgupta and make your decision known to that defunct EC. As someone said "show some spine".
Anything short of expulsion is unacceptable.
Bunty??
I agree with my President. It's time to act and just not be bystanders.
NUJS elections are boring now! Gone are those days of mud slinging and back stabbing. Thank god i graduated at the right time
All of us to appeal to CBI to make the enquiry on the financial scam in NUJS and other admnistrative and academic scams in NUJS
Keep vigil for the sign on your doors.... the shield will protect you....
She shall not pass !!!!!
She is not a person who has any common sense, iota of kindness within her heart or is an able teacher... she is not fit to be in a college with kids much like Dolores Umbridge
Please note, an FIR can be filed with Bidhannagar east naming her for physical assault without provocation , disturbing peace etc...
Take cognizance now and root out evil... tomorrow boys will lift girls from campus or start assulting them and the VC will say.. they had no past history of lifting and hence should be reprimanded..plus there is precedent.. if teacher got away with assualt, why not the students...?
Also, LI, why does the article say "allegedly slapped" and not "slapped". Irespective of the merits of the punishment, surely it is agreed that she slapped?
On that note, how can she slap?
i sympathize with you. would you all have the time to check your cr.p.c. as to whether simple hurt is a cognizable offence or not.
So much for love....
1. From a transparent administration, we now have one of the most opaque dealings going on. Rules are suddenly changed at the VCs behest without any consultation. He hates faculty meetings and does not hold them at all. He completely sucks up to judges and garners support from them! Committees are staffed with the VCs lackeys and able faculty members are completely ignored. He wants only Yes Men around him! All of MP Singhs' progressive policies have been overturned and this VC is taking NUJS back to the dark ages with his archaic policies and his blind love for the BCI! In one of the academic council meetings, one of the outside members from another law school asked him as to why he was reversing Singhs' policies on electives when all other law schools were copying it!! For some reason, he has a serious inferiority complex and hates Prof Singh to whom he is constantly compared. So he deliberately reverses all of this good policies and sidelines all of Prof Singh's appointees without care or consideration for the University and its growth.
2. Daniel Mathew a wonderful faculty member and appointed by Prof Singh was taken off from the website management function for no reason! It now turns out that Guha is responsible for this, since he doesn't like Daniel at all..
2. the VCs academic integrity is in serious doubt! he refused to publish a critical review of his book in the NUJS law review putting pressure on student editors not to publish it. This critical review was by noted consti scholar, Sudhir Krishnaswamy, a Rhodes scholar. The VC has done nothing for the journal and Prof MP Singh continues to help the students run the journal. The present VC merely wants his name in there and cares nothing about the journal or the institution!
3. five excellent faculty members have all left after this VC took over! The latest is Vishwas who was loved by students! And others I believe such as Shamnad Basheer are on their way out, since the VC has completely sidelined them and is making a conscious effort to replace them with his lackeys!.
There is more stuff, but am sure you can dig this out. I really hope the CJI constitutes an internal enquiry committee into all of this and NUJS gets rid of this man and restores its former glory!
Kian would request you NOT to report on their complaints unless they have the balls to air them publicly through a legitimate forum like the SJA or a student union. Let these kids suffer and learn a lesson.
Quoting Investigate the NUJS VC Now!:
Why have you blocked my comments which gave the brief of University Review Commission and the letters of the VC and the Registrar.
May we know this ?
RTI in NUJS ???????????? Please ask under RTI what the VC has registrar has done to violate all the laws of RTI and harrass the RTI applicant.
Prof . Bhatt and Dr, Mulhopadhyay : Will you please tell on an open forum what have you done with an RTI applicant so that the financial scam in NUJS is not exposed ?
Prachi Srivastave once wrote how once wrote NUJS works on RTI........
Will Prachi dig up the papers on what Prof . Bhatt and Dr, Mulhopadhyay did to RTI applicant ?
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