The credit courses are flourishing thanks to the new student coordinator but yaa, the research projects and the other improvements were directly undertaken by the new VC. If he can control the faculty exodus, which was already taking place waay before he joined he would be the best thing to happen to nujs in a long time.

Kindly check EC records. The loan amount was prepaid well before the 10 seats were reserved for WB domiciles in 2016 or so. The supposed exchange was an additional parcel of land that Mr Ghatak coaxed from KMDA. Was done free of cost

The 30% domicile was a result of an amendment to NUJS Act in 2018 and implemented from 2020. Personally, this bit could have been done better.

As regards satellite campuses, the "letter" from WB govt to the EC does not mention the locations. In any case it got shot down in the EC. Difficult to say whether the balloon was floated by Prof Bhat or WB govt or a certain retired CJI who favoured Prof Bhat and whose absence took away the "protection" that Prof Bhat and his minions enjoyed.

History shows that if the state govt wants something done, it gets done. For example, the domicile reservation or certain appointments and most importantly nobody ever became NUJS VC without state govt nod, tacit or otherwise.

So, if the state was really serious about the rumoured campuses in Asansol and North Bengal then it really does not need the EC. And if it needs the EC, it can and will get the so-called EC nod. Just like that.

Central institutions such as IIT, IIM, AIIMS, NIT, NID, IISERs, IIITs or a central university or a state university is far more valuable than a so-called "national law university". Given the involvement of the judiciary at some level, the likely location is North Bengal and not Asansol. The latter has a new state university.

If we are using that kind of argument, then NUJS also has got plenty of things to show since NKC has joined, not that I like that guy. Jumped NIRF rank by two, started new courses, applying for NAAC finally, got new research and consultancy projects, very supportive of student concerns during COVID, credit courses offered by industry people including alum every month, fellowships for students, put errant faculty in place and so on. Not that he did all those on his own, but he did his own part to facilitate those. Once again, just to make it clear, I am not an NKC fan nor do I agree with his position on academics and research in general for many reasons.

Possible to share the news/paper reports that say CM is unhappy with the Law Minister?

CM is known for taking quick decisions, especially when expressing annoyance even if misplaced. For example, every time Babul Supriyo won, Mr Ghatak would lose a portfolio only to regain another later. It is true that he lost and regained Law Ministry more than once before 2017.

Please note that since 2011, Mr Ghatak has been a cabinet minister and at least since the 2nd term of this government (if not in the 1st term as well), he has consistently held multiple ministries in addition to Law and Judicial Departments.

We are not getting into a debate over performance.

NUJS insider accounts on LI consistently state that it is KD who did the politicking with/out party's knowledge or (tacit) consent.

Note that it was during Mr Ghatak's tenure as Law Minister that over Rs 6 crore of NUJS' building loan was prepaid by WB govt thus saving costly interest payments by the university. It was likely during his tenure that NUJS received the endowment for Sir Ashutosh Mookerjee Chair. Again, not getting into a debate how Prof Bhat or NKC have (ab)used that Chair. Historically, VCs have ensured that all Chairs remain sinecures. None of the Chair Professors barring one have ever done anything to bring in any funding.

Will the removal of KD impact faculty recruitment? Will hiring be on merit and without political interference?

Also, will the law minister take a back seat and be busy trying to evade arrest in the coal scam? Possibly even replaced, since the papers say Mamata is unhappy with him? And will particular professor and the NBU lobby then be sidelined?

If the answers to these questions are yes, then there are some very interesting days ahead!

I said it is the duty of the AG to look after legal education and he has an ethical duty to meet with the SJA President. The SJA President is a student and cannot be expected to run after him. He has his own studies and careers to focus on and does not get any salary to be SJA President, while the AG gets paid taxpayer's money. So Mr Mukherjee should invite the SJA President for a meeting.

Full profile of SN Mukherjee from Bar & Bench.

https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/who-is-the-new-west-bengal-advocate-general-a-profile-of-sn-mookherjee

Why the hell should the SJA office bearers meet the new AG? It is not their job to act like servants and meet random people. There is an established procedure where meetings take place and the SJA may be invited to make a representation. The SJA office bearers are students with their own studies and careers to think about. Rather it is the AG who has a constitutional duty to take care of legal education.

NUJS has already tied up with IISER in this year. It also has got the director of IIMC in its EC, though the latter haven't been participating over the last few years. The scope is there. And you are nobody really to judge the worth of institutions. NUJS faculty have taken classes at IIMC in the past and vice versa.

Quote:

Mookherjee’s father, Satyabrata, known in the legal fraternity as Julu Mookherjee, was a Union minister of state in the Vajpayee government and was also Bengal BJP president.
Mookherjee studied economics as an undergraduate at Presidency College and enrolled in Calcutta University’s MA course. But six months later, he went to Cambridge to study law. Mookherjee did his schooling in St Xavier’s till class V and then went to Doon school. He became a senior advocate in 2003.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/bengal-gets-new-ag-as-datta-resigns-for-personal-reasons/articleshow/86214060.cms

Who said NUJS will tie up with IIMC? Stop spreading rumours. No way can that happen. IIMC is an Institution of National Importance ranked in international MBA rankings by QS and Financial Times. NUJS is a state government college. At best NUJS can aspire for a tie up with state universities offering MBAs, such as CU or IISWBM. If at all IIMC ties up with an institution in Bengal it will be an INI, such as IIT, NIFT and IISER.

The forensic people are not going to be there for the LLB course. The focus should be to revive the earlier recruitment drive for full time positions. However, based on rumours, all those posts will be reserved when they are opened finally, since the university now has to follow a roster. As for commercial law faculty and alum, didn't the students drive away an alum before who had industry reputation in corporate law? Why this sudden change of heart? Good faculty will actually require the students to attend classes, do readings and work hard. Current students are not really interested in doing that. If you had actually read the ad, you would have seen that it also invites applications for adjunct faculty, which are also meant for alum mainly.

I am strongly in favour of it. Not a threat to the colleges placements or reputation, while the college and will earn revenue. They can actually make a decent programme if they tie up with nearby hospitals like Apollo or Columbia Asia.

I also support an LLM-MBA in forest management and agriculture in Bengali, Hindi, Nepali and Santhali. Let particular professor head that programme and move away from the law school. A good result for everyone and society also benefits. NUJS can also get funds from the tribal rights ministry and agriculture ministry. Perhaps even a parcel of land nearby, which can be used to build facilities which law students can also use.

Labs are going to be built too. The academic block is undergoing vertical extension. Collaborative programmes are supposed to result into individual capacity building too. Although like someone said above, I don't know how good the recruits are going to be. Too early to predict.

The old AG is responsible for many terrible things. After Bhat was removed, he installed Talukdar and took a lot of vindictive actions, as he was the lawyer for the Registrar expelled on corruption charges. It was a total conflict of interest. Furthermore, he delayed the appointment of the new VC until an interim, stopgap Cl HC CJ took office for 2 months. In those 2 months, he appointed himself on the VC search committee, along with this lamppost CJ, and overlooked VC Vivekanandan for the post in favour of NKC (rejected by many NLUs, including even Ranchi).

Dude, Gopal Mukherjee is the #1 counsel in Cal and a Cambridge-educated barrister. I very much doubt if he will crawl like KD (who was basically a nobody propped up by KB). KB and his coterie are totally marginalised now, because Mamata is upset with them. I wouldn't rule out a new law minister as well, since the current one is embroiled in the coal scam and in the papers for the wrong reasons everyday.

The SJA must immediately email the new Advocate General and request an appointment, or just visit his house in person. The old AG has done great harm to the college over the past 4 years and these must be undone. It was, in fact, the old AG who introduces domicile quotas.

The new AG is a hugely respected lawyer (unlike the old one) and he will hopefully give a patient hearing to the students. The immediate need of the hour is to dress the faculty issue. Because NKC is a criminal law prof he is trying to insert people with backgrounds in forensic sciences. This is BS. The college needs people in the core subjects plus commercial law subjects. Also, alumni need to be appointed as visiting profs.

I am summarising the news and gossip from today's Bengali papers. According to the papers, the new Advocate General's background is as follows:

- Schooling: St Xavier's Kolkata and Doon School
- College: BA Economics Presidency College and LLB Cambridge, plus Bar at Law from London
- Senior Advocate for nearly 20 years
- Father was Satyabrata Mookherjee, Senior Advocate and Barrister, former Additional Solicitor General of India and a minister in the cabinets of Rajiv Gandhi, Narasimha Rao and AB Vajpayee (later shifted from Congress to BJP)
- The new AG is close friends with Nobel laureate Avijit Banerjee (Presidency College friend)

The new AG continues a trend of UK-educated barristers being appointed AG. The previous appointee was an exception, as he was a local law graduate with no foreign qualifictions. The papers also say that the previous AG was the junior of TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee, who has handling the govt's legal affairs. Mamata was apparently upset with Banerjee and the ex-AG , so she has appointed a top lawyer instead of a political appointee. Kalyan Banerjee will henceforth not be handling the government's legal affairs.

And here is a recent video of the new AG speaking with Amartya Sen at the book launch of Sen's memoirs and discussing his college friendship with Avijit Banerjee. See from 56:30 onwards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKWJH2nZWik

Kian, I should get a featured comment label for the discovery of the video and translating Bengali news to English ;)

Gopal Mukherjee is the new AG. Not sure if he is a night watchman with extended innings like Lord Taluk or will someone like NKC will follow.

By the way, KD's mentor, KB has been conspicuously quiet. By the way, is KD or his friends getting rehabilitated in NUJS with sinecures such as Chair positions, visiting faculty and like?

Is any movement expected now on the Registrar recruitment?

What happens to the deals with NKC?

https://nujs.edu/careers/RECRUITMENT_NOTICE_2021_%20WBNUJS_ADVERTISEMENT_10092021.pdf

Cyber Forensics, DNA Technology, Nanotechnology, Genome Sequence, Ballistic Physics!!

WOW! I don't know how good the recruitments are actually going to be, but this is hands down the fanciest recruitment ad I've seen by any NLU! Better than most private law schools with PR teams can do.

Anyone who knows about the insider workings of NUJS can understand what a boon this is!

Most of the so-called "state government interference" was primarily due to the excessive personal engagement of Kishore Dutta who used to force himself on every single executive, academic, financial committee including all inquiry committees on every matter. He clearly had a vested interest given he was personal advocate of the former dismissed NUJS registrar Surojit Mukhopadhyay.

While this may not mean a complete non-interference from state government but NUJS is in a much much better place now!

https://nujs.edu/careers/RECRUITMENT_NOTICE_2021_%20WBNUJS_ADVERTISEMENT_10092021.pdf

If the MSc Forensic Science is being offered in collaboration with CFSL Kolkata, then why is NUJS recruiting scientists etc esp when the latter does not even have lab facilities etc and is unlikely to get the relevant ones built in the next few years?

What exactly is the role of CFSL Kolkata? Does this course have the relevant approvals from the appropriate regulatory authority?

NUJS cannot even recruit or retain right and now this? The university does not even have the capacities to offer BSc LLB but it magically discovers the ability to offer this course? This is all a gimmick. Another scam in the making.

CU, JU, Presidency and the so-called "traditional lot" with fully functional labs and "science courses" do not even offer "forensic sciences" but NUJS without even having a skeletal structure in place "boldly" starts a full-fledged course.

What exactly is the EC/AC doing? Just sign whatever NKC and AG (before he resigned) proposes?

Fabulous news! The Advocate General of WB has resigned! An incompetent man with a mediocre legal career who succeeded some giants because of his political links and sabotaged NUJS right, left and centre. Hope the state returns to the tradition of appointing A-list lawyers. It would be awesome if Mamata chooses Soumendranath Mookherjee, a Cambridge-educated barrister and one of the best senior counsels today. He is representing the WB govt in high-profile cases of late.

https://theprint.in/india/west-bengal-advocate-general-kishore-datta-resigns-fourth-top-law-officer-to-quit-in-a-row/733275/

On another note, the law minister (saboteur #2) is facing the threat of arrest in connection with a coal scam. Would be awesome if both of them quit.

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/moloy-ghatak-skips-ed-summons-bengal-coal-smuggling-case-1852623-2021-09-14