Not that much came out of it. The EC no longer cares about what students say or want. Bigger show of solidarity and outrage is needed. NKC has been wasting student money for the last 12 months by having hired that huge second campus building, and only using one classroom there for the BSc students, who could easily have been accommodated in the main campus. SJA is not questioning that. He has been recruiting random admin people and making them permanent with high salary, without ever having to justify what value they add to the existing structure. On the other hand, a faculty member told me that faculty are now being required to 'justify' why they would place orders for a new book for the library! Clearly the admin has given up on reading and learning a long time back and now students and teachers are supposed to follow suit. Most of the teachers appointed during NKC's tenure are terrible in classroom teaching at the very least, I don't know about their research. SJA is not complaining about that either, so long those teachers give marks and attendance freely. So the less flexing about strategy from SJA, the better.

I said that it is not the CJI/Chancellor but his representative in the EC (SC judge who is Bengali or had spent good amount of time in Cal HC) who is tapped whenever the Chancellor has to take a decision. Chancellor is ceremonial as envisaged although s/he needn't be.

Closer to the ground it is the triumvirate of Cal HC judge, AG and an ex-Cal HC Judge who run the show. All are thick with NKC. So he is very well-protected as long as he delivers, which he has. Those deliverables mostly has little to do with what actually benefits students. This will continue in future as well unless the SJA is clear-headed and serious about its priorities.

It needs to take itself seriously before the admin treats it with any respect. Else it can continue to snooze or do some middling housekeeping en route to padding up CV.

By the way, there has been chatter of the SJA Prez having some disciplinary skeletons. Has the admin "opened the file"? Let's see how Prez/SJA dodges that bullet.

India Today has done an excellent analysis today on the electoral math in Bengal. Essentially, if the BJP gains 5% vote share, it can get as many as 31/42 seats, while even a 2% gain will give it a comfortable margin over the TMC. I can guarantee you that all the bigwigs in the NUJS drama will play their cards only after the results are declared AND we get a sense of how big the vote swing is (as an indicator for 2026).

https://youtube.com/watch?v=iOnXRU1bV9E

You have to be incredibly dumb to think a college with students of almost all states actually cares about state elections. Trust me we do not. And yes the petition is strategically timed but not for election sbit the ec meeting which is supposed to happen on 28th for vc extension

You have your facts mixed up, buddy. The judge close to the TMC, who de facto runs NUJS with KD, was never on the SC.

IMO DD will wait till 4 June and proceed as follows:

1. If the TMC gets 15 seats or below: Come down hard on NKC

2. If the TMC gets between 15 to 20 seats: Light rap for NKC

3. If the TMC gets more than 20 seats: Status quo

We need to wait till next Tuesday 8 pm, when all the Lok Sabha results should be final, to get a sense of the future of NKC and NUJS as a whole.

Students did not say that they support the professor because they believe the vc had done the act in question or not. The solidarity is due to the procedural lapses and the many actions that the vc took to supress the complainant. Whether the complaint has merits or not is a sub-judice matter. It is the way the vc went ahead with the entire issue which shows his blatant disregard for rules of procedure.

All this is very confusing. There is chatter that NKC actually went out of the way to promote this faculty member despite dodgy paperwork submission. As per EC records following some protests the matter was referred to Adv Soumya Majumdar (KD's friend and now lawyer for the univ in this case) for advice/inquiry. There are allegations that NKC persuaded Adv Majumdar to dilute his findings so that the promotion could go through.

A similar thing happened concerning her involvement in the distance education mess.

So ppl have mixed feelings about all this.

Small error. The matter has already been delegated to DD. The SC judge in the EC (Bengali or someone who spent time on Cal HC bench) has always been the de facto decision maker. Chancellors rarely spend independent time on SJA petitions.

DD will most definitely check the pulse with SS (who is firmly in NKC corner) and AG (KD). Will also consult discreetly with senior advocates such as JG and one of his juniors who happens to be the nephew of state law min. This particular AoR is a close buddy of Dr Sen.

Sen and LDG are bitterly opposed to you know who. So the deal is pretty much sealed in NKC's favour.

Also your "chronology" is likely to flop just like the lotus in 2021, irrespective of results on June 4. TMC will continue till 2026 and may even win with lower margins. Because even a massive exodus from TMC will not be able to compensate for the poor ground-level organisation of BJP. It's a bane that remains unresolved.

https://www.livelaw.in/amp/top-stories/nujs-students-write-to-cji-requesting-removal-of-vc-due-to-allegations-of-sexual-harassment-by-associate-professor-258908

https://www.telegraphindia.com/amp/west-bengal/re-examine-sexual-harassment-complaint-lodged-against-vc-calcutta-high-court-directs-west-bengal-national-university-of-juridical-sciences/cid/2022532

Here’s my prediction on what happens in the next 30 days. Please save it.

- 28 May: The EC (which is basically an extension of the TMC and controlled by AG Kishore Datta) grants NKC an extension to continue as VC.

- 30 May: SJA condemns the decision. Meetings will be held with Rohit Das to discuss legal options (NUJS alum who is representing the complainant and who previously represented a petitioner who challenged the NUJS domicile quota in court, but later withdrew).

- 4 June: The TMC loses the Lok Sabha election in Bengal and suffers a big jolt.

- 10 June: A petition is filed in the SC against the extension granted to the VC. Sensing that the TMC is a diminishing force, the SC judges don’t side with the EC.

- 17 June: The TMC feels the pressure and drops NKC like a hot potato and proposes the appointment of an interim VC, who is a retired HC judge close to the government.

- 20 June. Students oppose this and instead ask the CJI to appoint an acting VC who is a retired SC judge

- 25 June: The CJI delegates the matter to Justice Dipankar Datta.

I am not a fan of NKC. I think he's a terrible VC whose whole appointment was done in an arbitrary and opaque manner. However, on this matter, I am inclined to support him because I think there are glaring deficiencies in the complaint (to say the least). I also have questions about the bona fides of the students. The present lot have no interest in working for the betterment of the college. In fact, they have worked or lower the academic standards of NUJS so that they can pass with high grades awarded by "particular" mediocre profs. Also, why was the CJI never approached when it came to matters of corruption and maladminsitration?

First time ever that the SJA has written to him. Belated, but well done to the students for uniting!

https://theprint.in/judiciary/nujs-students-write-to-cji-chandrachud-seeking-v-cs-removal-over-sexual-harassment-allegation/2102705/