Anyone know what is going on ? I am hearing serious rumours about very qualified applicants being passed over and not interviewed. Folks getting interviews when they are relatively inexperienced and not published. Folks being repeatedly invited to apply and then rejected. Nepotistic hiring with folks who worked with the VC and others at previous institutions being preferred. Applications not even being considered if folks currently on faculty don’t “vouch” for the applicants. And about the interview process being a sham.

I always heard a handful of complaints previously but this hiring round I heard this stuff from multiple people in multiple institutions. It’s really made me think the idea of the VC trying to replace old nepotistic practices with merit based hiring might just be a myth.

For what it’s worth - I’ve not applied and nor have I ever applied to nls, but I was considering it in a year or so and now I’m unsure they will have a fair process.

What is the unvarnished truth? Can qualified well published applicants expect a fair hearing even if they don’t have suction with anyone at nls ? Or is it not worth it to apply?

Based on the experience of a few people close to me on both sides of the interview table, the short answer is this. Of course the VC prefers that the candidates whom he knows should get through. We all prefer to work with people whom we know and like. However, the people whom Sudhir knows and likes are usually capable and competent, so it is not hurting NLS so far. Are they the very best who could have been chosen? Not always, but the best is at times subjective.

Thing is- He is not hiring for his own private college where he can hire his friends and relatives to his hearts content. This is a public university. He has a fiduciary duty to hire the best. Its not entirely subjective when candidates with decades of experience and API scores in the hundreds/ books by OUP/CUP aren't even interviewed because they aren't near and dear to the powers that be right? for every decision taken- there has to be a justification provided- a short listing criteria, interview scores etc. Other public universities follow these rules. NLS doesn't. You think its not hurting NLS so far because you don't know the comparator- you don't know who you could have had work there if it weren't for these corrupt practices.

Why are those very people not working at the other NLUs then, who do go by solely such scores? There are very few people in other NLUs who are competent enough for current day NLS, and almost all of them have been invited at least once by Sudhir. API scores and 'decades of experience' do not make a good teacher, many career academics know how to game the system.

because other NLUs aren't the only universities in the world. Many of these people are in private universities, some are in universities abroad. Do you know what it means to have books be published by OUP/CUP ? do you know what it is to have publications in nature? do you know what a small percentage of academics in India ever have that? You're dismissing these candidates without even knowing who they are- exactly what nls might be doing- because what? arrogance? if someone isnt in sudhirs immediate orbit are they by definition not good academics? i'm talking about people who are internationally competitive who have told me these things.

Why is your knee jerk reaction not- yes we should have transparency? why is it- oh youre just talking about people who might be gaming the system instead of people who are very credible? you dont even know who they are!

If even a word of what you said were true, obviously, it would be the scandal of the century in Indian legal education. But the key there is if.... And I think a pretty important key. Because the (and I am borrowing a very nice phrase a fellow commentator here coined) Sudhir-hating internet trolls are still very much alive and well. The most charitable interpretation of your comment is that you wrote it when high, confusing Sudhir with one of the other corrupt NLU VCs.

1. Well, a good grasp of English is, whether you like it or not, a prerequisit to having a good grasp of the law in many fields. Take international law, for example. Read Eliav Lieblich's paper, 'Doing Research in International Law'. He specifically says that if you can't 'access' at least one of the languages of English or French, you will have a lot of trouble working in international law. You don't need to be word-perfect, but understanding it is very much necessary. So your comment seems to be the paradigmatic (if you understand what that word means) case of sour grapes (a term used in Harry Potter, so you'd have to claim that HP readers are privileged now).

Sorry (especially to the moderators) if my comment sounds sarcastic. It's just that this nonsense has gone far enough. We need to face some facts. I am writing out these facts for the so-called non-privileged candidates who alegedly (and were I speaking in person, I would do an immitation of how Rick Jerome emphasizes the word "alleged" when doing an impression of Dr James Akrington at his most supersilious in Jerome's audiobook reading of Ngaio Marsh's 12th Roderick Alleyn book, 'Colour Scheme') got rejected because of their English-speaking skills, in sentences with only a main clause and no subordinate clauses, where possible. We are an ex-British colony. English is a very important language of our legal system. Our laws are written in English. We wouldn't have been seen to be as good a business proposition for foreign investors as we are, had it not been for English. The National Law School's medium of instruction is English. The works of legal philosophy important for our lawyers to understand are written in English. Why don't you sit down and do a massive translation project of Hart, Dworkin, Fuller, Raz, Frank, Bagehot, Llewellyn etc, into Hindi and other Indian vernacular languages? So were I the National Law School's head at the current moment, I would unapologetically say that any recruitment criteria that is a proxy for good English is a criteria worth retaining and strengthening further (especially if it involves rejecting you, the writer of the comment I am responding to).

2. This point can be much more briefly stated. Please elaborate, point by point, on all the gaps in the CV, profile, experience and knowledge of this person, that make him an unsuitable hire. And explain what qualifies you (and/or somebody else you know, mentioning no names of course) who would have been rejected, or has been rejected, under the current dispensation.

Hoping you haven't had to consult a dictionary too often to read this response.

Regards,

Somebody with common sense who doesn't hesitate to say what he means.

There was a person involved in teaching law subjects at the university who did not have an LLM. They had an MA. According to BCI regulations they were explicitly not even qualified to teach law courses or to be hired as an assistant professor of law. They have recently left the university to go pursue a phd somewhere else but it was clear to their students that the legal training was just not there and instead you just got social justice pablum.

The point is that you shouldn't confuse polish for value. Candidates who paid their way into fancy degrees abroad who do not have publications or did not win scholarships and who often have nothing to recommend them at all are being preferred over equally qualified if not more experienced candidates. You draw this binary between - foreign llm good/ indian llm bad- maybe. to some extent. Yale llm is better than NLS. Sure . is a UCLA/QMUL/ Melbourne/ Random European University ? I'm not so certain. Thats not even a function of how much english you have- thats a function of how much money you have. How many of the young people hired even have a decent publication record or any teaching experience? This is the jindalification of NLS to be honest.

I understand why people are defensive of Sudhir- he came in when there was deep rot within the system and seemed to remedy some of its worse excesses. The kind of people he has hired- would never even have applied to NLS in years prior. But that doesnt mean hes perfect and we need to ignore all the corruption that goes on. Sunlight is a disinfectant always.

Haha. Nice assumptions about me. I never attended your college, and never plan to. In fact, literally the only connection I have with India at all ATM is the passport I am saddled with (haven't even been there for almost 18th months straight), which I don't have the option of getting rid of for a few years yet, and some family members who live there (indeed, I had forgotten last year on 15 August that it was Independence Day until I saw a tweet of the embassy of the country I am currently living in to India passing on their good wishes for the big day). I literally read LI to laugh at the amusing things you kids say, safe in the knowledge that they can never be traced back to you (and engage in mudslinging from time to time when I have a moment, and because it's fun). If the mods had been indiscrete enough to share my IP address, you would have seen that it is an IP address from 5000 miles or more away from where you are now: and that's how far off I have been from your college (and the country in general) for the last several (more than even I care to think of) years (and intend to stay for the lifespan afforded to me). I rarely get irritated when reading LI, because you silly kids, who have no better work in life than to "rant", afford much amusement to those who appreciate the more serious issues of life. All I am irritated with is this victimhood mentality about English: the very same pernicious nonsense that says CLAT should be in Hindi and ask questions about farming, instead of being in English and asking questions about French foreign policy in South America. Where will your precious vac scheme/TC offers go when your mentality takes hold, eh? But sure, carry on the mudslinging! Loving it!!! If Sudhir (who has never heard of me BTW) can be accused of the "Jindalification of NLS", then you sure can be accused of the "GNLUfication of NLS" also.

I’m barely a kid. I’m very old actually. I don’t see the point of continuing this discussion. More persons than you have foreign degrees from elite institutions. I have one too. I earned mine because I was hungry for knowledge. I really like universities as spaces and I want Indian universities to be among the best of them. Expressing concerns about fairness in hiring process and pointing out that all that glitters is not gold is not the same thing as wanting mediocrity. You have some us v them victim stuff you should work through.

Absolutely disgusting. I was rejected despite getting a LLB and LLM from a tier 1 with a JRF. Only because I did not have a PhD. I understand. But connections can get these mid-20 kids with no work experience, no NET, no PhD and they're teaching as asst professor. PhD needs do be made mandatory. Atleast the starting would be 30+ age, with a bit of life experience as well. Rather than fresh blue eyed baby boys who couldn't even give a presentation during their student days.

Its a rebuttable presumption after a certain point. Do a network analysis of how NLS faculty all know each other from before being hired and you'll find a lot of these ties go deep.

Some of these professors will resent the patronage system that led to corruption in previous generations but essentially engage in the same thing themselves.

I'm someone who has been rejected multiple times and finally got selected. Honestly, I don't know what worked. I don't have degrees from Tier 1 NLU and haven't gone abroad. There are quite a few like me here. I added publications but I don't know if publications are the reason I got selected when I got selected.