NUJS Kolkata vice chancellor (VC) Prof Ishwara Bhat, who was hugely unpopular with its student body will be CNLU Patna’s new VC, having applied for the post shortly after NUJS had its first ever judicial review commission and four years before his term was due to end.
CNLU’s chancellor, Patna high court chief justice Rajendra Menon notified Bhat's selection to the post today, choosing from three recommendations sent to him by a search committee comprising of former NLU Jodhpur VC (retd) Justice NN Mathur, Patna University VC Prof Nitin Karmalkar and senior advocate PK Sahi, Mathur told us today.
National Judicial Academy assistant director DP Verma and Delhi University professor Dr PK Bhatnagar were the other two recommendations for the Patna job.
NLU woes
Mathur commented: “The things are going in reverse. We're getting faculty [at NLUs] but not vice chancellors. Earlier there were vice chancellors but not faculty. The whole problem is that there is not a proper search committee. We need a very broader [committee comprising] people who know the system in depth.”
Bhat will be succeeding CNLU VC Dr A Lakshminath. Lakshminath's term as VC ends on 19 March.
The search committee has had interactions with a total of five contenders for the post, before forwarding the three names to the chancellor. Former NLIU Bhopal director SS Singh, who was compelled to resign in November 2017 facing student protests, and NLSIU Prof V Kumar were the other applicants who did not make it past the interaction round.
Mathur explained: “My background as a judge [made me] the senior-most person [on the search committee]. I come from 1982, when the law education concept developed, when they started talking about NLUs. None of the vice chancellors know why we want [national] law schools. The rhetoric is that they're going for [law education based on] UGC pattern.”
“I asked many of the candidates the one question: these are NLUs or they are law schools? How do you make a distinction? Most of them, 90 per cent, don't know,“ Mathur lamented.
“Justice Hidayatullah as chairman of UGC had said we need Harvard law schools here. Now [the NLUs are] doing what UGC says, what MHRD says. The whole concept was to take it away from MHRD or UGC. That is the misfortune,“ he added.
“There are 20 NLUS why you need more if you don't know the concept of what is Harvard Law School? They are just simple state universities under the garb of NLU and the vice chancellors don't know [this].”
History of Bhat
Bhat did not respond to our calls and messages for comment since yesterday.
He still had almost four years more until his term as VC at NUJS would come to an end, but he had also faced two no-confidence petitions against him by the NUJS student body, as well as a detailed statutory review of the affairs of the law school late last year.
The conclusion of the report has remained a mystery to date, with the report having allegedly been buried by Bhat.
But issues with Bhat's style of administering affairs at NUJS included institutional problems under heads such as transparency, academics, infrastructure, health and hygiene, inaction on financial embezzlement, curbing student liberties out of retribution, proposal to increase student intake and to open two new branches, and then the delay in forming the statutory review commission, according to the second loss of confidence motion against him in which the student body expressed its “utter dissatisfaction and complete loss of faith in [his] leadership”.
One day before Bhat was re-appointed as VC at NUJS in September 2016, to enjoy a second term as head of affairs at the law school, the NUJS student body had signed its first no-confidence petition against him stating that the administration had under-performed under similar heads as in the second petition, and also that Bhat had given evasive responses to students when they had put these questions to him in an official general body meeting.
A scathing review commission report at Nalsar Hyderabad in 2012, which had been suppressed internally but first published by Legally India, had strongly contributed to the resignation of its then vice-chancellor Prof Veer Singh.
Student body polices Bhat admin
CNLU Patna does not have a student body, confirmed sources in the law school.
But at NUJS, Bhat had faced strong opposition from the Student Juridical Association (SJA). The SJA reached out to multiple EC members on the eve of the extension of his term as VC, including the then advocate general Jayant Mitra and former CJI late justice Altmas Kabir.
After the failure of the first no confidence petition in putting the brakes on Bhat's re-appointment, the NUJS SJA had sent out their report highlighting the abysmal state of affairs to union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and human resource development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar, sources in the association told us.
As a result the SJA had won an unprecedented physical representation before the NUJS executive council and the then chief justice of India (CJI) TS Thakur, which led to the formation of statutory review commission by the CJI.
When the review commission finally visited NUJS, the SJA made multiple representations before the commission.
The commission's report will likely be presented on 7 April, according to sources in NUJS.
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After SJA found corruption by registrar, he not only took steps to remove him but fought a long and tedious legal battle to ensure that the charges stick and the guilty is punished.
When his PA complained of sexual harassment by another staff member, he took all necessary actions to bring the culprit to justice rather than covering up, which many NLU VCs are known to do to save face.
He obtained land for expansion of campus, that too in a place like Salt Lake city, which successive VCs like even Menon and MP singh failed to get
After facing student complaints, he definitely changed track and supported student initiatives in NUJS. He did not interfere with the initiatives and efforts of students. He funded the moot court society and other committees fairly well. You should check with your friends in other NLUs how little autonomy they have when it comes to these things.
He came from Mysore University, so he was not familiar with NLU culture. However, he improved over time. But his old reputation continues to stick to him because he is terrible at PR or keeping important faculty members happy.
He started regulating academic performance of several faculties, passed academic regulations stipulating mandatory performance to uplift the educational environment. He installed CCTV cameras to stop faculty members who left class early or came late or gave classes off without any reason. This angered a large part of students and faculties who get popularity by doling out favours to students.
He introduced procurement regulations and made it mandatory to give all development work only to government bodies like PWD and WEBEL, closing the opportunity for several people who made money through this contracts. Created more enemies. From library to mess, everywhere there are now clear and transparent regulations for procurement, which never existed before. Naturally, he needs to be accused on anonymous boards of corruption so he can be removed and affairs as usual can be continued by vested interests.
According to SJA website, he invested an unprecedented amount to improve campus infrastructure. From roads to lights to the mess hall, everything was crumbling as they were build a good one and half decade back. After getting a 2nd term, he focussed on improving NUJS’ infrastructure to the next level. He got digital podiums, made an auditorium which was pending forever, renovated the mess.
Most importantly, he introduced ERP system, which NUJS faculty and staff hated the most. Their inefficiency was now exposed due to a fully electronic system and there was no place to hide.
He has also taken care to make the campus more disabled friendly, which no VC before him did, and that matters a lot to me personally. From ramps to disable friendly toilets and entrances, renovating the lifts to suit our purposes, he really did it all.
I can totally understand why a legal scholar of repute who spoke nothing in his defence is being attacked like this on an anonymous notice board.
You will not see a single such comment in bar and bench because there comments can be made using only facebook. Shame on you guys for mindlessly attacking a man who did so much for you. You are not ready to do so in your own name, only through anonymity, which speaks volume about your own character.
Total SJA budget used to be 6 lakhs when Ishwar Bhat joined and now it is 22 lakhs thanks to him. Do you know of any VC who have done this ever before?
When he joined, Moot court society used to get 2.5 lakhs extra apart from SJA budget. Last year Bhat sanctioned 12.5 lakhs additional to SJA. He also passed a resolution to increase the budget from next financial year to 20 lakhs. Moot court society is losing a committed supporter if he goes. But well, he has already done the good job.
He also supported weekend lecture series for the first time in NUJS. He provided unlimited money for bringing well-known guests to NUJS campus, provided accommodation and airfare. It is during his tenure that Informal Discussion Group was set up which he fully supported and funded. Please try doing these things at CNLU or NLUJ or NLIU and see what happens. This is a Ghar ka murgi dal barabar situation. Because Bhat is not well spoken and suave he is attacked for things that are not even his fault. Nobody acknowledges the good things he did.
Bhat was also instrumental is setting up 2 major research centres at NUJS - CRSGPP, CRC with UNICEF. CNLU would have been lucky to get him. However given that he is an easily scared and generally paranoid type of person, he is unlikely to go to a campus which is already protesting against him. At least in NUJS nobody is protesting against him. The pro-former registrar lobby was upset after Bhat unceremoniously sacked Mr. Chakraborty, and they tried to exact revenge by blocking his reappointment but miserably failed. Now they are awake again trying to harm Bhat’s reputation.
Quora is beating legallyindia. This is the most impartial review I have seen so far.
I urge CNLU students to write a petition opposing his appointment. If necessary NUJS students can write a petition first criticising his appointment at CNLU. He will destroy your college.
There is no known allegation for any corruption or impropriety against him. Only legallyindia incites people to protest against bhat.
After his first run in with SJA he has realised he can't be vc while students are unhappy.
1. Better faculty and hiring of alumni as faculty.
2. Better infrastructure. If government gives no funding then approach the private sector
3. More transparency in governance and disclosure of finances.
Also Kian, you must get few people to file RTIs to get a list of the professors who applied when the selection committee sits to decide for nujs and NLIU. Will be interesting to see the people who've applied.
1. Makes one wonder whether professors from the Karnataka cadre will follow Prof. (Dr.) PIB to CNLU. Good luck to them because they have some really tough choices to make in the coming days.
2. This news comes as a huge setback for the following people:
a)KR;
b)MM; and
c)well-wishers of KR and MM.
So basically KR and MM.
3. Finally and more importantly, this would not have been possible without the persistent efforts of the the current SJA (2016-18). One can argue that him leaving is merely a coincidence, but let's not forget, there were still 3 years left in his tenure and CNLU is most certainly a sizeable downgrade for someone who has headed the second best law school in the country for more than 7 years now. Well done people!
4. Hopefully we can all build upon this exit and take NUJS back to its former glory.
Incredibly sanctimonious and patronising. Don't worry though, we still have a few of your sort at NUJS.
1. VK Unni: Professor of IP law at IIM Calcutta. Taught at Nalsar, exposure to foreign universities..
www.iimcal.ac.in/users/unniv
2. Shubhankar Dam: Professor at University of Portsmouth, UK. Star academic and NUJS alum.
www.port.ac.uk/school-of-law/staff/professor-shubhankar-dam.html
3. Shamnad Basheer: Needs no introduction, unemployed since leaving NUJS.
4. Mrinal Satish: Professor at NLUD, NSLIU and Yale alum.
nludelhi.ac.in/pep-fac-new-pro.aspx?Id=30
They are all young and most have a Kolkata connection.
1) I cannot understand why such negative remark against UGC and looking down on traditional university? Those who make criticism of Prof Bhat for following traditional university model do you know history of Mysore University? It is one of the best. Do you who is alumni of Mysore University? None other than Mr Narayana Murthy of Infosys. I do not think NLSIU or NALSAR is having similar contribution to the nation building.
2) Some negative things has been said by one past professor like not hiring one NLSIU alumni and instead hiring from Mysore University. Do you know that all the top legal scholars of India like Prof Madhav Menon or Prof Upendra Baxi is coming from non-NLS background? I also want to know what is attendance record of this past professor ?
3) I want to know how Prof Bhat can turn NUJS into the Harvard Law University in few years? It will take many years and lot of finances. Do you know cost of fees for the Harvard? It is 2 crore per year which is 100 times of NUJS.
4) I want to know if the new VC will do some miracle? I want to know if student will also complain against new VC when they see their demands is impossible?
Today is one of the sad days of legal education of the country.
"Sad days of legal education of the country it seems".
It is indeed a sad day for legal education, because an incompetent head could not be thrown out, but is going out in his own terms, that too to plague another place, which deserves a better VC than NUJS, not a worse one, because the need there is certainly greater.
Peace out.
Success of SJA will come if they can pursue the CJI to form a "vc search committee" for nujs which will be comprising of true scholars. Why don't we have a search committee comprising of Prof. Upendra Baxi, Prof. Ved P Nanda, Prof. Partha Chatterjee??? (Pls no more SC judges or present nlu vcs in that search committee). This will be the first task for SJA.
Second task will be to make a list of 5 professors having exceptional knowledge, integrity, adaptability and courage. These 5 may be contacted by SJA. If they are willing, then send their names to the seaech committee. But, this has to be done through open and unanimous decision of the GB.
Third but most urgent will be to start a new movement to send back the non-performers back home be in faculty or in administration. All faculty recruitments done by HIM are fallacious, and the people recruited/ promoted are dumb, ignorant and stereotypes (such as SB, MPC, SKC, KR, MM, AA, BN, VKT etc.). Make a list of 15 best people (10 commercial law and 5 public law) to be concidered for appointment as faculty through open GB discussion, take their nod, send names to the CJI and all EC Members to form a special committee to interview them for faculty positions.
Fourth will be to cooperate with the Bengal Govt to open a new nlu in West Bengal, but this cooperation must bring all requirements of nujs be fulfilled by them.
Fifth, consult the EC members and try to bring one IAS/IPS of Bengal Cadre as Registrar on deputation for the next three years.
Finally, ask/pressurise HIM to leave soon.
nobody talked about incompetence.
SJA: start working guys!!
- Vijaykumar from NLSIU is eyeing NLUD. NLUD VC-ship is more sought after as it gives access to the power centres in Delhi. Vijaykumar is a good friend of Bhat's and quite a traditionalist, but more competent than him (but then, anyone is).
- Paramjit Jaswal from RGNLU is very keen on NLUD and is a good friend of Ranbir Singh. He is a hot favourite for NLUD and may edge out Vijaykumar. In which case Vijaykumar may head to NUJS.
- Vijender Singh (kicked out of NLU Assam, now in NLU Nagpur) wants NLUD as well and is a Ranbir Singh loyalist. But he can't keep hopping from one NLU to another and needs more experience. So he may neither get NUJS nor NLUD
- VK Unni (IIM Calcutta) has categorically stated that he is not interested in leaving IIM for any NLU.
- Srikrishna Deva Rao (NLUO) is interested in NUJS. Has an outside chance.
- Another person with an outside chance is T Ramakrishna of NSLIU (IP professor-- not very accomplished academically, but is pleasant, open-minded and a decent administrator.
- Shamnad Basheer is too polarising a figure, has been unwell for some time, and is anyway not interested.
- Finally, Prof Ved Kumari (DU Dean) is extremely upset at the vandalism happening at DU and being publicly abused in filthy language by Satendar Awana Gujjar (student leader and ABVP thug). This incident even led to the SC intervening. She may take NUJS VC-ship if offered. She is honest, a sincere administrator and a well-regarded academic, and would be a very good choice.
He was offered prestigious visiting Professorship at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Lund, Sweden, for (2004-2005). Prior to joining the Indian Law Institute, he was teaching at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences as Professor of Law (currently on leave). He also served the Indian Society of International Law as its Director (2006-2009). In year 2007, he has been elected as Secretary of All India Law Teachers Congress (AILTC) and again re-elected in 2009, 2011& 2013 for another two years term. He has been regularly delivering lectures at various institutions outside of the university, namely, law colleges in India and abroad, UGC Academic staff College, training program of the ICRC, training programme of Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Environment and Forests.
His recent authored, edited and co-edited books include: Business and Human Rights (2013); International Criminal Law and Human Rights (2010); International Law: Issues and Challenges(2009);International Criminal Law: Issues and Challenges;(2009);Global Governance, Human Rights and Development (2009); Human Rights and Good Governance: National and International Perspectives (2008); Right to Health in the Context of HIV/AIDS in India and Africa (2007); Enforcement of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: International and National Perspectives( 2006); Humanitarian Intervention by the United Nations (2002); Implementation of Basic Human Rights (2001) and Basic Documents on International Human Rights & Refugee Laws (2001).
PIB: Good-ah Morning-ah.
Mafia: Good Morning, Bhagwan. Please allow us to massage your feet.
PIB: I have-ah some bad news-ah. I have-ah been fired-ah. I am going-ah to Bihar.
Mafia: [Shock]
PIB: Why don't you-ah resign-ah and come with me to Bihar?
Mafia: Abey chup sala. PIB Murdabad! Naya VC Zindabad!
Today's TOI has a major story on this, quoting Bhat as saying he left only because CNLU gives him a longer tenure, which contradicts the narrative on your website. In the meantime, the Telegraph has done a story saying CNLU students are opposing Bhat's appointment:
www.telegraphindia.com/states/bihar/cnlu-against-new-vc-216255
I also request everyone not to read Bar & Bench. They are known chamchas of Bhat and spreading fake news.
I don't think there's another narrative as such, since the only narrative we presented was that he was unpopular.
The reality for him leaving is probably a combination of factors...
1. You will always see B&B carry interviews of unpopular VCs, Bar Council officials etc. Do you know why? Because they are totally pro-establishment and enjoy getting access to such people.
2. In the past, many news about corruption at NLUs, Bar Councils etc has not been covered by B&B.
3. Furthermore, I think some of the pro-B&B message on LI are actually people from B&B who are trolling.
4. On the point of Prof Bhat, B&B blacked out news about the protests at CNLU against his appointment.
From what I understand, not doing the more contentious stories and doing a lot of puff pieces is basically a strategic decision to improve establishment access, minimise litigation risk and avoid ruffling of feathers.
However, it's worth highlighting that, perhaps surprisingly, they were one of the few to re-report the Caravan - Loya story in the early days when it wouldn't have been at all clear if it would result in a contempt petitions by the SC, defamation suits by Amit Shah, or raids by the government :).
B&B was founded by 3 NLS graduates, 2 of whom I think work in law firms (I think one foreign, one in India), and one of whom has and is successfully running other businesses, as well as managing B&B on a day-to-day basis. I believe they recently secured some third party-ish funding, which explains their massive expansion in court coverage.
1. We fiercely protect commenters' identities and IP addresses, and have successfully pushed back against every single request, to create a safe open space where the legal community can say what's on their mind, mostly for better, sometimes for worse.
2. We try to publish the largest possible number of comments unmoderated. If a comment is unpublished, or moderated, it's generally for one of the following reasons:
- it violates our community standards for being rude to a named individual (except that we are a bit more lenient regarding very senior management or heads of larger institutions, since they're in a somewhat public position and some criticism in such cases is healthy).
- it is overtly defamatory of a named individual.
- if a comment has been reported with the 'Report to LI button' as violating our community standards.
It's taken literally years and tens of thousands of comments to develop some workable middle ground in comment moderation, which doesn't piss off the entire legal industry while also allowing some open debate. It's not perfect, but it's not an easy problem to solve, so if you have any practical suggestions, I'm all ears!
a) It is overtly defamatory.
c)
Sorry for bursting your bubble LI and students, but you had ZERO influence here. Some people are too stubborn, selfish and shameless to be embarrassed by bad publicity and no-confidence motions.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hubballi/KSLU-VC-will-be-appointed-soon/articleshow/54475828.cms
Ms Prachi, please spread information about the social media campaign on your website also.
Thank you.
(1) It has been vouched for by a very reliable source that, Vice Chancellor Bhat had actually been fully and formally exonerated of all allegations as to corruption, etc.
and
(2) The Review Commission - the first ever to be constituted in all of the 17 years since the university's inception, - had not limited its investigation only to the last tenure, but had reported on the TOTALITY of the achievements (or otherwise) of ALL the Vice Chancellors since year 2000.
In light of the above, would it be quite fair to jump to conclusions, based even if partly, on speculation and conjecture, - and not allow things to take their own course?
change.org/.../...
Paramjit Jaswal: Moves to NLUD as VC from VC of RGNUL
Manoj Sinha: Moves to NUJS as VC from Director of ILI
V Vijaykumar: Moves to NLIU as VC from Prof at NLSIU
So will he continue at NLUD into his 70s??
1) Former Bihar education minister and search committee member says Bhat will stay at CNLU: leggerhythms.org/we-dont-care-even-if-cnlu-is-shut-down-says-bihars-ex-hrd-minister-p-k-sahi/
2) 24x7 protest happening (pics below)
3) RGNUL lends statement of support (pic below)
1) Two no-confidence petitions by students documenting poor administration
2) Well-qualified faculty leaving en masse for NLUD and Jindal
3) Numerous allegations by Shamnad Basheer: vindictiveness, cronyism, corruption in hiring
Professor Dam read for the BCL at the University of Oxford (Brasenose College) as a Felix Scholar, and completed his LLM from Harvard Law School as a Harvard University Dana Scholar. His first law degree is from the National University of Juridical Sciences, India. In 2004, he was a law clerk to the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India, Justice V. N. Khare, in the Supreme Court of India, New Delhi.
The winner of several teaching excellence awards (including the Most Promising, and Most Outstanding Teacher Award) and research grants, Dam's primary interests include law and governance in India, public law, common law reasoning, and legal ethics. He has been invited to present his works, among others, at the Wissenschaftskolleg, Berlin, Yale Law School, Emory Law School, the Harvard-Stanford International Faculty Forum, Illinois-Princeton-UCLA Annual Comparative Law Workshop, and the Inaugural NUS Asian Comparative Law Workshop.
RESEARCH
Professor Dam’s focus is on comparative public law and separation of powers – particularly, the migration of British parliamentary concepts to commonwealth jurisdictions, and executive authority. Drawing on empirical and analytical methods, he is studying how branches of government hold themselves internally accountable. His current works include a series of empirical studies on the Supreme Court of India, and monographs on executive legislation in parliamentary and presidential systems.
Dam has published over 30 articles in law reviews and peer-reviewed journals, and book chapters. He is the author of Presidential Legislation in India: The Law and Practice of Ordinances (Cambridge University Press, New York, 2014, paperback, 2015). In January 2017, the Supreme Court of India extensively relied on the book to overturn long-settled constitutional doctrines in India, and make executive power more amenable to judicial scrutiny.
In addition, he is a frequent commentator on topics related to law and governance in India, and his commentaries and op-eds have appeared in Qz.com, Writings by Shubhankar Dam in Scroll, Economic Times, Hindu, Indian Express, Express Tribune, Friday Times, Week, and Newsweek. His works are archived on Selected Works of Shubhankar Dam.
www.telegraphindia.com/states/bihar/cnlu-reaches-boiling-point-over-next-vc-216681
1. How much he did to punish the harasser in the sexual harassment matter is a known fact to the entire country. LI archives just stand as an evidence to his nebulous conduct. Being an outsider, I noticed how much he colluded with the agent of the harasser and how much he did to exterminate the victim.
2. Making improvements to the campus infrastructure is a routine exercise over the time. Don’t need to be projected it unprecedented!.
3. You are talking about disabled friendly environment, have you lead down any disabled policy in your university? If so, please share with us.
4. What is his contribution to up hold the academic standards of NUJS? How many times he is holding repeat, re-repeat exams and special repeat exams and special re-repeat, special re-re-repeat exams almost through-out the calendar year only to favour a section of students those support him.
1. How much he did to punish the harasser in the sexual harassment matter is a known fact to the entire country. LI archives just stand as an evidence to his nebulous conduct. Being an outsider, I noticed how much he colluded with the agent of the harasser and how much he did to exterminate the victim.
2. Making improvements to the campus infrastructure is a routine exercise over the time. Don’t need to be projected it unprecedented!.
3. You are talking about disabled friendly environment, have you lead down any disabled policy in your university? If so, please share with us.
4. What is his contribution to up hold the academic standards of NUJS? How many times he is holding repeat, re-repeat exams and special repeat exams and special re-repeat, special re-re-repeat exams almost through-out the calendar year only to favour a section of students those support him.
qz.com/1257543/indias-supreme-court-can-technology-bridge-the-transparency-and-trust-deficit/
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