Which is what will happen at nalsar. Y’all are completely deluded on this site. It’s a polite / delayed resignation. Unless there’s a clear plan of when faculty will come back - you should assume they won’t. No one in their late thirties/early forties uproots their life for funsies.

Literally no one is trying to hold him back. Why would you even think that ? I just think shaming people or saying this stuff about them doesn’t help.

Yeah the phd is going on about 8 years- I know many people that have been doing that - there’s been a global pandemic in between those eight years, it’s an unfunded position so he’s had to work full time, teaching 2-3 courses a term at least not to mention all the admin work they put on him at nalsar. And he’s gotten married and had a kid. Raising a child is hard work.

Weakened his own case means what ? All his work ex doesn’t disappear no ? He’ll finish phd this year and knock out 2-3 pubs from that and get promoted to associate professor. Given the easier schedule at nls he has the breathing room to do that.

Someone doing their masters/phd immediately out of law school hasn’t had to deal with all that he has. So I would suggest that law school kids who don’t know what any of that is about and who are barely passing their own courses keep their nonsense to themselves.

This will probably be among the most consequential faculty transfers in the history of the NLUs. I know him from our Cauvery Hostel Days (I was two batches junior). He was fascinated by literary and cinematic works based on comebacks. When he does rejoin NLSIU next month, it will be a moment comparable to the return of Ben Hur to Judea or maybe even Edmond Dantes to the French mainland. Let us see how his third innings at NLSIU plays out.

I have no idea who this person is, being from neither of these two NLUs so am fascinated by these comments. People are writing as if Martha Minow or perhaps HLA Hart himself is joining NLSIU. Genuine question: why is this appointment so consequential? Is it because of citations of this guy? Teaching reviews? Industry reputation to bring jobs? Track record of attracting external grant money? Great administrator to liaise with netas and babus? And if this person is so consequential, why was NALSAR not better than NLS for students interested in pursuing a career in whatever subject he teaches? Actually very curious to know more about this guy.

He spoke up against the previous NLS administration and got kicked out when he was teaching there. So he came to NALSAR under Faizan and has been a great faculty. Having been one of his students, he is quite intelligent and has a gift for Law, but isn't necessarily the most driven or dedicated (you'll see he hasn't completed his PhD despite being into it for almost a decade). He was in the forefront of the NALSAR VC drama, where he publicly backer Faizan for another term, so it was only a matter of time before Sudhir recalled him once Fuzzy didn't work out.

Although to be fair, having known him for five years, we had a rumour every semester that it would be his last at NALSAR. So nobody really took this seriously until he actually left.

It’s not any one of those things. He doesn’t publish much, he doesn’t get grants, he teaches political theory so I don’t think he’s getting jobs for any of those students. He’s a very good teacher but it’s not that either- there are other good teachers who don’t get treated this way. Sudhir, Arun, Nigam, Mrinal are all good teachers but they didn’t get this. It’s nothing quite so transactional.

It’s because Sidharth Chauhan is beloved. He’s incredibly fair minded and he’s very good at getting students to do their best and he’s mentored so so many people. He builds institutions. I don’t know how else to say it - he’s beloved. The students who worked with him / took his classes at both institutions will know what I’m talking about - it’s impossible to sit in those rooms with him and not have affection for him. It’s not personal charisma either- it’s that he’s stuck around and done his best and brought his best self to work every day for more than ten years now.

Nalsar was far better off with him than they were without him. I think it’s about the only really good thing Mustafa did - to hire chauhan. Without him - I really worry for the students , the place is gonna sink considerably now.

I was in nalsar before and after chauhan came- my goodness it felt like he was saving us from ourselves. I was about to quit law school and I stayed because of him.

I can’t quite explain it- but I’ll use a metaphor Chauhan taught me. There are friendships of pleasure and utility, and then there’s friendships of the truest kind- friendships of virtue. That’s when people like you for your character and you make each other become better people.

So with professors - there are professors you will enjoy for a short time and they won’t have impact on you and vice versa , and there are professors who you will see as valuable only in what they can do for you- and they will see you as valuable only in what you can do for them. And then there’s chauhan who will like you for your character and give you the best advice without assuming he can tell you what to do or expecting that you will listen to him , he will show you how to be your best self and how to invest in the project of self improvement, and whether it’s in firms, in litigation , in academia or even in a non law career - he will be glad to know that you’ve done well because he cares about you doing well. It’s a rare thing.

Then he's made a good choice. It sounds like he might need to be at an institution that cares about him for a change. Maybe his new colleagues will support him and encourage him to publish, go to conferences and put some energy into his own growth as a scholar. I hear you when you say that professors who are generous and who care are necessary. But they also need mentoring and support to help them grow. Nalsar was very lucky that he was dedicated enough to stay.

I am quoting the below-mentioned course names from his LinkedIn profile. It is a much broader range than what others on this platform are suggesting.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sidharth-chauhan-02a71828/

He has also uploaded some of the course plans on his academia.edu page:

https://nalsar.academia.edu/SidharthChauhan/Teaching-Documents

Teaching courses for undergraduate and postgraduate students; Currently part of administrative committees that co-ordinate guest lectures, exchange programmes and internal examinations. In recent years, I have been the faculty adviser for the NALSAR Public Policy Group (since AY 2015-2016) , the NALSAR Student Law Review (since AY 2017-2018) and the 'Courts and the Constitution' conference (since AY 2018-2019).

Courses taught:
1. 'Law and Language', 1st year, B.A., LL.B. (July-Oct 2014, 2015)
2. 'Political Obligations', LL.B. elective (Jan-Apr 2014, July-Oct 2014, 2015, 2016, Jan-Apr 2018)
3. 'Comparative Public Law' (co-taught), LL.M. (July-Oct 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, Jan-Apr 2019, 2021)
4. 'Law and Literature', 2nd year, B.A., LL.B. (Jan-Apr 2015, 2016)
5. 'Judicial Process and Statutory Interpretation', LL.B. elective (July-Oct 2013, Jan-Apr 2015, 2016, 2017, July-Oct 2018)
6. 'Interdisciplinary Studies on the Indian Legal System', Seminar (Jan-Apr 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
7. 'Law, Business and Society', 1st year, M.B.A. (July-Oct 2013, 2014)
8. 'Legal Methods', 1st year, B.A.,LL.B. (July-Oct 2016)
9. 'Research Methods & Legal Writing' (co-taught) LL.M. (July-Oct 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, Oct 2020-Jan 2021)
10. 'Constitutional Law I (Fundamental Rights)', 3rd year, B.A., LL.B. (June-Oct 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023)
11. 'Constitutional Law II (Structures of Governance)', 3rd year, B.A., LL.B. (Jan-April 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
12. 'Comparative Political Equality', LL.B. elective (July-Oct 2019, 2020)
13. 'Law & Justice in a Globalising World', LL.M. (July-Oct 2021, 2022, 2023)
14. 'Economic Freedoms & Law', 1st year I.P.M. (Sept-Dec 2021, Aug-Nov 2022, 2023)
15. 'Logical Reasoning & Critical Thinking', 2nd year I.P.M. (Oct-Dec 2022)
16. 'Indian Politics & Policy Analysis', 2nd year IPM (Jan-April 2023).

17. Foundations of Comparative Law, LL.B. elective (Jan-April 2022, 2023).

A prodigal son or daughter is a child who leaves home to do things their parents don’t approve of and then regrets and comes home.

Sid was justified in leaving and I think his coming back is more of a heroes arc- but other people could think he was perhaps impractical to leave nls the way he did all those years ago and his coming back now is some recognition of the way in which law school is not really replaceable or easily replicated in other universities.