NLSIU Bangalore has ignored appeals filed by its alumnus Prashant Reddy over the law school’s perfunctory right to information (RTI) replies to his queries.
In three RTIs filed in June Reddy had asked for details of the law school’s exam re-evaluation system, reasons for the dismissal of former faculty member Sidharth Chauhan, and measures taken to investigate cheating in exams held at the law school.
NLSIU’s then Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) and officiating registrar K Ashwatha Reddy replied but did not answer the queries in great detail. On 22 July 2013 Reddy filed his first appeals to the three RTIs, which, according to the official website of the Indian postal services, were received by NLSIU on 25 July.
He had also emailed the first appellate authority, NLSIU vice chancellor Venkata Rao, requesting him to appoint someone other than himself as the first appellate authority at the law school, because the queries in the RTIs pertained to Rao. Reddy said that Rao had acknowledged receipt of his email without further comment.
When the appeals were not answered by the law school within a month of their receipt, Reddy put in calls and emails to NLSIU’s administrative staff members who claimed that they had not received a copy of his appeals. Reddy added that delivery had been confirmed by India Post.
“We are rather amused and amazed by this evasive behaviour of one of the top law schools in the country - how do they expect to teach their students about the rule of law if they are not able to give honest answers to three RTI applications? So much for the law school motto of dharmo rakshati dharma,” commented Reddy.
NLSIU’s CPIO has since Reddy’s first RTIs changed, after Prof OV Nandimath’s appointment as registrar at the law school.
Rao told Legally India that the statutory period for responding to first appeals was 45 days, which had not yet run out since receiving the appeals on 25 July. He added that he had "reserved judgment" on whether to act as the first appellate authority for Reddy's appeals.
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I urge you to come up with an article showing the ground realities at NUJS. while this institution has a lot going for it and it still is right up there , in the past few years it seems to have lost a lot. Faculty in many subjects are incompetent . some may know their subject but they simply can't teach it. the course structure of some subjects is way way above the basic knowledge required. the administration is slow bordering on apathetic. there is arbitrariness in marking and the teacher feedback forms are a waste of paper becasue clearly thy have never been seen . Some brilliant teachers are all we have left and the way its going...i dont know for how long will they stay. Many students are disillusioned with this place -coming in with certain expectations - but seeing certain ground realities which lead to many of them simply failing to live upto their potential. This institution is being carried by its students with almost no support from the administration. The infrastructure provided is pathetic. the hostels are in terrible shape. the cleaning staff is too few in number to maintain the campus or the hostel rooms which results in students not being able to get their rooms cleaned for weeks on end.this is not the way a institution which has such repute and is considered to be a tier one law school should be like.
A place where a sexual harassment claim cannot be looked into for months , a place where It takes 15-2- days on an average to upload something as basic as the previous months attendance on the website ...does this sound like a top institution?
as of now....we as students here feel our university has no vision....no movement forward...no leadership....while other national law schools are constantly trying to improve be it through faculty recruitment , or infrastructure or new events.....we at NUJS are hung...in a state of comma....not moving forward..just at a standstill...while our previous reputation and the laurels our students keep winning year after year still hold as as one of the 3 best institutions to study law in this country....the question is for how long....and more importantly....when will we get back to the golden times when things were moving..the campus was exciting...and the students felt they actually had an administration that could help them ..not end up making their lives more miserable.......this place still has a lot going for it...some of the faculty are still among the very best in this country....and very sharp brilliant students are here.....but the problems might not yet be outweighing the good things associated with NUJS ......but the abyss we're in currently...i don't know hwo long that will hold........I'm prpoud to be at NUJS..proud to be part of an institution that is full of very sharp people...proud to be part of an institution which is considered so good.....but right now....i'm nto proud of much else.........the infrastructure compared to other NLU's is a joke.......the faculty..which was considere the best in India isn't no where near the best in india....and our administration....is slow..dead slow...and for some reason...isn't very accomodating towards the students....small things like taking submission of projects a couple of hours before the project submission window when the concerned member of administration is actually doing nothing cant be done.........and there need to be rapid drastic changes.........NUJS is still a great institution...i as a student of NUJS...hope it stays that way.....
Dear Noojie
It is shocking, when I wrote in this column exposing NUJS VC and Registrar's acts in HUMILATING the Law of RTI of this Country , the comments gets blocked...........
Why doesn't Kian makes an RTI to NUJS to get a copy of the writ petition and the letters of WB SIO ?
Kian , Please wake up . It's time for you people to restore legal atmosphere in NUJS
1. AK Poddar's sham book review being published in the NUJS journal (why are you silent on this? this deserves to be brought to the attention of the nation):
docs.google.com/a/nujs.edu/file/d/0B4XaA30casoDaWlRWXl3ak90QWs/edit?usp=sharing
2. Corruption at NUJS, looting of taxpayer's money
3. Teacher exodus
4. Repeated complaints by students on this forum
Kian we are singling you out becase we know that Bar & Bench is openly biased and we thus had some hope in you. You only picked on this story when TOI reported it (and even then you only focused on the sexual harassment case and avoided focusing on the allegations against the VC). We are hurt and disappointed because you were once a bold journalist but are now becoming cosy with the establishment (like Barkha Dutt). We hope you will take this criticism in a positive manner instead of censoring us and calling us trolls. We still have a lot of respect and admiration for you. We hope you will emulate Arnab Goswami instead of Barkha Dutt.
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