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https://prsindia.org/files/bills_acts/bills_states/west-bengal/2022/Bill%20No.%209%20of%202022%20WB.pdf
will the commentator no. 3 admit their foible
As the text of the amendment bill is available and it is clear that Chancellor NUJS is not changed from CJI , please delete this thread. Hope lawyers / law students would do background research before jumping the gun.
More than the Chancellor, what actually defines the level of governmental interference in any university, has always been the presence of a strong Vice-Chancellor.
People like Faizan, Ranbir and, from what I've heard, Sudhir (don't know him personally, he's from the younger crop, so I may be wrong) - are a few VCs who have shown tenacity. But with lack of better candidates and the recent trend of blatantly biased appointments by governments in almost all states - educational institutions are slowly becoming post-election rehabilitation centers used by politicians to return favors. NUJS is no exception.
The only way to fight these advances is to create systems where one man/woman does not have too much power/discretion. Unfortunately, Vice-Chancellors are the supreme overlords in national law universities which have little to no structural checks and balances anyway.
Secondly, unlike certain univs that started as "state univs" but were "taken over" by the centre and bestowed INI status, such as IIEST in WB or RRU in Gujarat (there are other examples as well), the GoI has repeatedly underlined that NLUs (including NUJS) are not "central univs"; will not receive regular/earmarked "central funds"; and that the GoI has no intention of taking them over.
Thirdly, NUJS is a bit of oddity like some other NLUs, which are state univs with CJI (or CJ of HC) as Chancellor. But having CJI or CJ as Chancellor does not change the fact that NLUs are state university. "National" means zilch. NLUs were fluffed up as IITs/IIMs for law but the founding father(s) were always aware of the realities. NLUs are designed to be VC fiefdoms.
Fourthly, I really don't think NUJS is included in the new Bill. The CM is going after state univs that historically had the Governor as Chancellor and also erasing his/her presence from current and upcoming private univs. NUJS does not feature in that "list". NUJS matters to certain party apparatchiks, including regime friendly judges (former and current).
Fifthly, despite the presence of CJI as Chancellor and other non-party folks especially the "venerable" judges and academics, NUJS has been in terminal decline for almost a decade now. The rot began to stink with PIB and has now reached epic proportions under NKC. We must not forget the contributions of Lord Taluk and his friends such as a former AG, an evergreen Lokayukt and the newly crowned SHRC chief. There were others as well.
Sixth, when the domicile quota issue hit us, there was a mob frenzy that this was that "one big thing" which will bring NUJS down. The same sentiment is being worked up again. The univ will largely be what "we" make it to be. If "we" are a self-serving lot, then the powers that be will continue to do what they have always done. But are "we" going to shun the easy ways and desist from striking private deals?
1. The West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill, which will cover all 21 state aided universities (NUJS is not one of them) a 2019 example is available at https://banglaruchchashiksha.wb.gov.in/assets/readwrite/uploads/The_West_Bengal_University_Laws_Ordinance_2019.pdf
2. Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya (Amendment) Bill,
3. The University of Animal and Fishery Sciences ( Amendment) Bill,
4. The West Bengal University of Health Science (Amendment) Bill,
5. Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya (Amendment) Bill,
6. The Aliah University (Amendment) Bill
the last 5 are specialised universities, 2 for agriculture, two are affiliating unis and one is aimed at minority upliftment
Link: https://tfipost.com/2021/01/get-over-nidhi-razdans-fake-harvard-job-mamata-banerjee-has-a-phd-from-a-fake-american-university/
NLSIU has been held to be a non-state govt university by the Karnataka HC, but that is not true for NUJS. A case on this point was field in the Cal HC (with alumni Rohit Das and Fauzia Shakeel arguing) but the case was withdrawn by the petitioner (who was a law aspirant). The SJA also did not show any interest at all in the case.
Also, even without Mamata being the Chancellor, NUJS is under de facto TMC control. 1/3 of the NUJS GC members belong to one or more of the following categories:
- TMC MLA
- TMC MP
- TMC minister
- TMC teachers union leader
- Advocate for TMC leaders (including Abhishek Banerjee)
Among the other 2/3, there are certain people known for their proximity to Mamata. See the names for yourself and you will know if you follow Bengal politics:
https://www.nujs.edu/home/about-nujs/organisational-structure/
BTW dyou know who all were there in the GC before the TMC came to power and when the Left Front was in power and Menon/Chimni/MP Singh were VCs?
- KK Venugopal
- Gopal Subramanian
- Dipankar Gupta (former SG)
- Raju Ramachandran
- Eminent nuclear scientist Raja Ramanna
- Eminent editor CR Irani
Not only did these people fly down to Kolkata to attend meetings but they donated money too .
Now prepare for a mass downvoting of my comment by TMC trolls and the pro-NKC/pro-AKP lobby...
Source (PTI): https://twitter.com/PTI_News/status/1533724514185424896?t=hZ50v2BT4bkJdTN0XfFqhQ&s=19