This is very depressing news. VCV was by far the better candidate. The first 3 VCs of NUJS were super eminent and had the best scholarly credentials of any NLU VC, but look at what is happening now. It is unfortunate that the SJA did not oppose the appointment and point out that NKC had been investigated for corruption at CU and accused of fudging his credentials (according to this report in the Telegraph).

www.telegraphindia.com/states/west-bengal/private-tuition-slap-for-two-university-teachers/cid/1119477

Mamata’s govt is crumbling (read the articles below, published today). The students should not be afraid to confront the law minister and AG. The students can already plan ahead and meet Swapan Dasgupta (CM in waiting). He has just published a new book and is promoting it aggressively, so he will be happy to visit NUJS and give a lecture.

Is Mamata losing the plot? From doctors' strike to ‘cut money’ debacle, Didi is plunging into crisis

www.dailyo.in/politics/mamata-banerjee-tmc-bjp-in-bengal-syndicate-minority-appeasement/story/1/31296.html


A sign of hope — Bengali Muslims are finally protesting Mamata’s appeasement politics

theprint.in/opinion/sign-of-hope-bengali-muslims-are-finally-protesting-mamatas-appeasement-politics/256041/

Kian, why can’t you give scoops on the NLSIU domicile quota? Do you not have spies in the NLSIU student body?

Poor choice. Who else applied? If only NLIU Bhopal had not advertised earlier, Vijaykumar would have thrown his hat in the ring.

If you have better evidence than TT links, please take it up with the EC. You are like the other commentator who keeps ranting about plagiarism by a rather particular professor. Maybe you are the same troll. Again, please take it up with the EC. What did trolling here get you? NKC is the VC. VCV isn't.

Unhappy? Tough luck. Move on.

Why you have so much problem with NUJS domicile quota? Most of the other NLUs have such qiota . Even more than 30% which is stipulated for NUJS. Why WB students only will suffer? Ask them to abolish the quota first . NUJS is only follower. Reducing quality is jyst fear mongering. as...
1. NIJS established on 1999 whereas CLAT commenced from 2008. First few years majority students were domiciles . They built the reputation of the institute. Stidents from outside the state started joining once it is already reputed.

2. Jadavpur University has 90% domicile quota. It did not stop it becoming one of the best university in the country . Placement is one of the best in the country. Highest salary offerred there this year is 41 lakhs. Domicile quota did not prevent that

3. 30% state quota is ratiknal and reasonanle. Out side WB students are most welvome in NUJS. But remember that you are student knly and not the policy maker. Tomorrow you may ask the right to decide CM of WB, but that does not mean that you will get it.

4. Come in NUJS , study here, built your career and leave. Dont try to be too smart. If you feel institute list its quality, please select another NLU and improve the quality there. You are most welcome

5. Ask other NLUs to abolish quota first. NUJS here is only follower not the leader or first to introduce the quota

Sudhir Krishnaswamy there, NKC here. LOL.

www.telegraphindia.com/states/west-bengal/nujs-gets-new-vice-chancellor/cid/1693472

I am pretty sure about the [...] source given the glaring errors in the reporting. Seriously when will the journos learn to do some fact-checks and ground-truthing? Rather particular playing suck up to someone he was most recently crusading and lobbying against?

A new game of sucking up begins.

I think NKC should be welcomed by the students, but with a firm warning that if he ignores SJA petitions and continues to be non-transparent, he will also be thrown out. If Mamata's government falls and the TMC cronies in the EC are kicked out, the students will have the upper hand.

The EC and admin will cower down as Mamata weakens. Some people will shamelessly switch sides, becoming bhakts overnight.

It would be awesome if NLSIU and NUJS students could unite and file a PIL in the SC against domicile quotas and seeking National status for NLUs. Both are in the same boat.

The students can meet with Prashant Kishor to lobby against domicile quota.

NKC's Facebook profile (including friends list) can be viewed here: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010419246932

It seems he has a granddaughter who studies abroad, so hopefully he will be open to collaborations with universities abroad.

Also, the fact that he uses Facebook makes him a bit more modern than stone-age Bhat.

The battle now shifts to rejecting the domicile quota implementation. The options are:

1) Intense lobbying just like NLSIU did.

2) Get the VC and EC to reject it like NLSIU.

3) Challenge it on court if Mamata forces it, on the ground that the EC and Chancellor were not consulted.

4) Get Gogoi and brother judges to oppose it.

NALSAR invited Swapan Dasgupta for a talk (video below) but NUJS is not doing so, even though he is a regular visitor to Kolkata and could be the next CM. This is most unfortunate. He is one of the most active Parliamentarians and will be receptive to raising issues of NLU governance in the Rajya Sabha. He is undoubtedly the most knowledgeable, educated and intellectual MP in India.

I urge the students to please invite him for a talk on "The Destruction of Education and Quota Politics by Mamata Banerjee".

I OPPOSE the appointment of NK Chakrabarty. According to Bar & Bench he was appointed a professor in 2007.

barandbench.com/nirmal-kanti-chakrabarti-new-vice-chancellor-nujs/

But Prof Vivekanandan was appointed a professor earlier, served as MHRD IP Chair at NALSAR and served as Dean of the IIT Law School. These universities are a lot more reputed than Hooghly Mohsin College, Calcutta University and KIIT, where Chakrabarty has taught.

Furthermore, Prof Vivekanandan has a PhD from NLSIU while Chakrabarty has a PhD from Burdwan University (according to Bar & Bench). There is just no comparison!!

Then, Chakrabarty claims to have published 50 "research articles", but where are the citations??? I CHALLENGE him to release the list.

Also, he has told Bar & Bench he is the first Bengali to be appointed to the post. Why this needless regionalist statement???

I am SHOCKED AND APPALLED that the students have not opposed this blatantly political appointment by TMC and the overlooking of a candidate who is so much more qualified. Please rectify the mistake before Prof Vivekanandan heads to NLUD and you lose a good VC.

Today's Telegraph

Do you really think that the state govt just rolled over and let the quota issue slide off? While there will be trolls and upset souls who would instigate and not allow credit to the quiet work by the SJA (past and present) and would have preferred chaos to continue (not saying things will magically become rosy right away), the fact is that Lord Taluk and his EC friends saw it is better to lose an inch now and gain a mile later.

They will come back harder next year. Pressure will be on NKC to bury the inquiries as they did with Justice PN Sinha Inquiry Report. They need key elements of both JL/IL (need to think new names with Lord Taluk departing) to get their "stuff" done.

The NUJS amendments maybe political grandstanding to some but to Lord Taluk's friends these are tools to make political personal (business) while the CM keeps professing return of cm.

The political apparatchiks in the EC (apparatchiks being the operative word) want to have new (and some old) "committed" Faulty and administrative staffs. This may explain why the issue of DEO over payments is batted down and the Registrar is keen to rush an FC. Keep the glaring of fat cats well fed while sharpening the long knives for the students.

Many of us think that these inquiries are meaningless, past is past etc. But that's how history keep repeating itself and mistakes as well. The inquiries are our best chance to clean up (to the extent possible) the faculty recruitment process because every VC (celebrated or not) will want acolytes. Favours to have to be returned and traded.

Unless we remain alert expect faculty recruitment to be manipulated; inquiries diluted and stretched out, so that the trail goes cold; leaky tenders and contracts with plentiful scope for cost overruns and crazy financing; reset in admission standards and quotas (including NRI) so that seats can be trafficked.

Conspiracy theories? Think again. Many Reds after 34 years found the grass to be greener on the other side and watermelons that sprouted crazy are suddenly becoming oranges. 50 years ago all of these things would have sounded crazy. And a family couldn't have been trounced so roundly and repeatedly.

The NLSIU SBA has just petitioned for INI status for NLSIU. Maybe the SJA should approach them and ask if they are willing to do a joint petition? Gogoi is the Chancellor of both institutions. Furthermore, both institutions have a domicile quota law hanging on them.

The EC held on 29th June 2019 may be critiqued for many things but what Kian has missed probably because it has no sensational value is that after a delay of more than 6 years [...]'s services were terminated for proven act of sexual harassment. For the un-initiated [...] is [...], who was found to have sexually harassed another junior employee of WBNUJS

If NUJS can offer courses by partnering with IIM Calcutta instead of iPleaders, that will improve the brand value of NUJS a lot and bring in revenue. The Director of IIM Calcutta should be invited for an IDG session and given this proposal. It is also an interesting coincidence that only NLSIU and NUJS are in cities with an IIM. Not NLUD, NALSAR, NLUJ, NLIU, GNLU, HNLU, RGNUL, NLUO, MNLU Mumbai etc.

Here is an interesting development reported in today's TOI. Ironically, this college is free of quotas and TMC interference, being a minority institution. Yet, they got free land from Mamata.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/st-xaviers-law-school-gets-nod-from-bar-council-of-india/articleshow/70027827.cms

Also, both St Xavier's school and the college have impressive alumni and can leverage those connections to seek funding (e.g. Shashi Tharoor, Kaushik Basu, Sourav Ganguly, LN Mittal, Aditya Birla, RP Goenka, Derek O Brien etc).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Xavier%27s_Collegiate_School
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Xavier%27s_College,_Kolkata

Kian, my sources tell me that at least one of the inquiries that EC had ordered earlier, the one about delay in publication of a student's results for over a year, has been concluded and the report submitted before the EC in a...hold your breath....'sealed envelope'! Any news about this? Given this is perhaps the only inquiry during Lord Taluk's regime that has been actually finished and the report filed?

This is what I gather on the SH matter having read the available EC records on the university and SJA websites; articles on Legally India and elsewhere, and listening to reliable grapevine . Reportedly the SH matter was discussed at length in the EC, which decided to terminate the services of the long suspended and generously funded employee.

1. The SH victim had made repeated verbal complaints before PIB. But for one full year he tried to bat things down. The offender was verbally cautioned several times by PIB but he could care less because....

2. Receiving no respite, the SH victim sent a written complaint to the university. The offender was sent on leave. Thereafter he started playing truant while continuing to threaten the victim directly and indirectly. The victim then filed an FIR. The university sensing trouble suspended the offender and PIB put him on subsistence allowance.

3. The university sent the complaint to the ICC, which was then led by RG. PIB would make frequent changes but RG and AM (as expected) remained constant. Till RG got publicly reported as being sympathetic to offender and attempting back channel rapprochement on behalf of the offender. RG also made some strenuous interpretations of the reported SH instances and a public exposure of those caused RG to resign. AM was asked to stay on and a new ICC Chair was appointed. ANPGhost. The ICC was also expanded.

4. While all this was going on, the offender kept playing truant. At some point his anticipatory bail plea was rejected by the Calcutta High Court; the Bidhannagar Police arrested him in late Dec 2013; and after some initial SC rejections, he finally got out on bail.

5. The expanded ICC crew submitted their report in early 2014 which confirmed SH. The majority felt that specific disciplinary action was best decided by the university, which neither had a service rule nor SH policy in place. The minority strongly recommended immediate termination.

6. The EC LET PIB take a call on this matter. Previously too it had outsourced the issue of subsistence allowance and hikes to PIB. And so PIB formed the holy trinity committee - himself (Top class God), Supreme God (lurks in library) and CPC/CrPC God. The trinity faithfully adopted the arguments made by the offender to increase subsistence allowance from 50% to 100% in quick jumps and without due non-engagement certification.

7. PIB & Co let the offender enjoy the allowances without even checking whether he was working elsewhere. Only recently did the EC compel a reluctant Registrar (Acting) to demand those non-engagement certifications. And we know how those can be procured for consideration.

8. But to go back to what PIB recommended to the EC concerning disciplinary action was this - the offender was to be kept on suspension, on subsistence allowance (with very timely and generous hikes) till the conclusion of the criminal case that was initiated by the victim. Sounds familiar? This trick was also used in the Surajit Mukhopadhyay matter as well till the the Calcutta HC instituted Justice (Retd) PN Sinha Inquiry Report ensured his termination.

9. Know what? The EC that gave PIB a free hand on this SH matter also had Lord Taluk then as a state nominee. I don't know why the EC didn't ask PIB to provide further details on the actual nature of the case; whether the university was even a party to it; whether there was any stay order or direction from the court not to terminate the offender's employment etc?

10. The criminal prosecution was launched by the victim. The offender has not provided any evidence that the university is a party to the case. The offender has not secured any stay order etc against the university. But SH was clearly established by the ICC and it was accepted by the university and EC. And yet PIB & Co decided to keep the offender generously funded till the game of dates plays out in the court.

11. Maybe PIB and EC should have requested the victim on the progress of the case. And demanded answers in writing with supporting paperwork. I don't know if Lord Taluk did that now. He should have, especially if this sexual and financial profligacy vitally hinges on the "case" that the victim launched.

12. While not victim-blaming there is no record of the victim petitioning PIB or EC against subsistence allowance being paid without due non-engagement certifications or even challenging the ICC report for not recommending stricter punishment. Some commentators here hint that the victim did not show intent in her pursuit of justice. Maybe they think that in all this time the NUJS SH victim could have done something like this www.telegraphindia.com/states/west-bengal/teacher-moves-womens-panel-for-sexual-harassment-by-colleague/cid/1693399

13. That said, I am not interested in a moral crusade or salacious gossip concerning out-of-court settlements etc. It is interesting how this matter resurfaced now. I am reliably told that the SJA came to know that the offender since his suspension has been paid approximately Rs 50 lacs till date. The SJA took this up with Lord Taluk and forced him to raise this issue in the FC/EC. The SJA contended that the offender cannot be paid indefinitely and there were gaps in how PIB kept the EC (mis)informed.

14. The SJA needs to be lauded for raising hell. I don't want a glaring of fat cats bankrolled on student fees. Now that the offender has been fired, the recommendations of the holy trinity needs to be reviewed (at least two Gods are still around); and those responsible for checking non-engagement certifications and ground-truthing will need be hauled up as well. Most certainly explore options to claw back monies from the offender or his pals in the university. That includes PIB and his handpicked Registrars (Acting).

Why are we discussing education again here? That's because some interested Faulty got advance news that the bells have begun to toll for them and their pals (also our alumni in certain instances). Please, let iPleaders plead their cause. You plead. A lot. For them.

Thanks to Registrar (Acting) the concerned Faulty members continue to be provided shelter and Lord Taluk too didn't want to ruffle feathers either because the corruption trail touches his friends as well. Hence the inquiries not going anywhere.

Some more writs have been filed in the last few weeks against NUJS by aggrieved distance education students. A big reason why this issue has been a drag is because Lord Taluk was reluctant to take decisions. He wouldn't communicate to the aggrieved students nor ensure that AM as the SDME Director did. The Registrar (Acting) had chosen a side in the JL-IL feud and provided shelter accordingly. The EC wanted Lord Taluk & Co to take action but the latter wouldn't and so the best thing to do was to lob the ball to the HC.

Lord Taluk learnt this tactic from PIB who had successfully used it to keep Registrar appointment/PN Sinha report; and the SH matter involving AR Admin, in the limbo.

But this time Delhi and Calcutta HCs had enough. The university lawyers knew that their good times risked getting sour. So the message was very clearly delivered. EC responded by agreeing to refund its share amounting to 30-40% depending on the courses which had private partners; and 100% for the courses that it ran on its own.

The aggrieved students will want 100% refund. Which means that either it will be taken out of the share of the private partners or from the fees that we pay. And that's where the SJA comes in (again, much to Faulty disappointment). The SJA has told Lord Taluk clearly (but it will need to reiterate even more clearly now) that our fees cannot be used for refunds nor can govt grants etc be used unless there is written permission from the government.

Crores have been taken out from our fees to over pay DEOs and other admin staff. Our fees were used to cover the big financial holes made by a former Registrar and the crores lost were never recovered by PIB and Lord Taluk (pray why?). That caused the university to refund Rs 2.85 crores to UGC and it has found further faults in the utilization certificates presented by the university.

Now that the refunds will begin, SJA needs to be very alert. Maybe even real time tracking of the accounts section because they will touch our fees. The concerned Faulty would have preferred "business-as-usual" but we now have a better idea what was really happening. What is really making the Faulty nervous is a certain demand from SJA - recover the refunds from the Faulty who shepherded the courses with private partners and most importantly who had the responsibility to supervise these deals but instead misled the AC. And there is evidence that they knew and had assured the AC that UGC permissions will be taken.

By the way, yet another EC came and went. Distance education got discussed and decisions taken. But nothing from private partners who cried foul? Yes the PA system can be quite a filter. But there is always the EC members and even the Chancellor's office. Methinks, they know all these pathways. But they also know what they did. Hence the combination of silence and obfuscation.

Sometimes we have to go the distance to uproot the mess, root and stem. Heads will roll. And it doesn't matter where the exposure is published www.thestatesman.com/supplements/law/distance-education-mess-1502764247.html

In other news, NLSIU, NALSAR and NLUD have shot down speculation about a joint Nationalise NLUs protest. NLSIU will separately lobby for Institution of Eminence status (as the government will open it to specialised institutions) while NALSAR and NLUD are hoping that the top 3 institutions in each NIRF category will get this status. Joint lobbying among these 3 is possible once Sudhir takes charge at NLSIU and VCV at NLUD.

See what Ramanuj from iPleaders has tweeted today:

twitter.com/law_ninja/status/1146079600713199617

Am I a snob if I say that I want my VC to be suave and speak English well? Like Amita Dhanda, Sudhir, Shamnad etc?

Could there now be FURTHER reservation at NUJS???

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/10-quota-for-poor-in-bengal-total-over-50/articleshow/70049135.cms

[...] is our lucky mascot. NUJS also got a new VC today. Now that [...] and NKC (rhymes!) are on campus, NUJS will become great again. Lord Taluk flopped because [...] was away for extended duration [...]

[...]

The university has uploaded the minutes of the 67th EC nujs.edu/meetings/ec/67th.pdf

Download before it disappears. Now we know what all went down in this EC.

Kian why are you not doing a story on the significant decisions concerning SH, RG and distance education? Are we to assume true some of the commentary made here on these topics?

This is in response to Law Ninja tweet or his friend.

I do not mean disrespect and the word Ninja has moved away from its disreputable origins. But check it anyway en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja#Foreign_ninja

None of the advertising takes away the fact that distance education courses were started and continued illegally by NUJS in partnership with Law Ninja. And both parties knew about it. Yes, the courses may have been better designed than what many Faulty teach here. It likely helped many in upgrading and honing their practical skills. And it may not have mattered to the oft-repeated 3000 students or so whether they got a UGC recognized certificate or not or that they wouldn't take a govt job etc.

The courses were started and continued illegally. I am not interested in apportioning the blame to Law Ninja. I am more interested to know what actions will NKC take against the Faulty who had the fiduciary duty to supervise regulatory compliance and to act in the best interests of the university?? Repeatedly they assured the AC that UGC approvals will be secured. At no point did they say that it was optional. These Faulty cannot claim that they did not know. Their colleagues cautioned them in writing, questioned them in AC etc.

Whatever financial losses the university will now suffer for making the refunds (which Lord Taluk dragged out) and the litigation fees should be recovered from the concerned Faulty before they are fired. Will NKC do that?

[...]

To misognyistic idiots trying to troll a certain lady teacher: she happens to be the best teacher. She is sincere, knowledgeable, dedicated and never raises her voice. Take your toxic misogny elsewhere.

It is not appropriate to upload sensitive minutes like this for the whole world to see. Anyway, it confirms that Prof Kumarjit Ray has resigned, which is extremely unfortunate. He is an alum with excellent qualifications and an LLM from a top law school. It is shameful that alumni are treated like this while plagiarisers from rubbish colleges are rewarded. I have no doubt that Prof Ray will be welcomed at any other NLU or Jindal, while NUJS will continue to suffer.

Regarding the foreign collaborations proposal by the SJA, the best option is to reach out to universities that already collaborate with other NLUs or private law schools. For example, the JGLS website has details of student exchanges, including how many went to which university. www.jgls.edu.in/semester-exchange-2/

Regarding the alumni teaching proposal, obviously the easiest thing to do is reach out to NLU alumni working in Kolkata. Apart from NUJS, there are enough alumni from NLSIU, NALSAR, GNLU etc.

Yes rather particular instances of plagiarism must be reported. Certain folks have commented that SJA should take it up. Probably they should and maybe they will. But why haven't the commentators sent the hard evidence to the university authorities? Was it the fear that Lord Taluk & Co will suppress the complaint? Why not send the complaint and evidence now and stop waiting etc for SJA. They are probably "bad" and want easy grades etc. But you are good and incorruptible. Before you do the Nike thing are you sure your friends will not be singed along with your enemies? Maybe even you?

Maybe SJA despite all its supposed faults understands something. What is the point of reporting plagiarism when it will not be acted upon, especially in a state where the education minister is www.telegraphindia.com/india/dr-same-same-chatterjee/cid/1489382 and star speaker in LS is www.ndtv.com/india-news/mahua-moitra-on-plagiarism-allegations-says-her-speech-in-parliament-came-from-heart-2063501?pfrom=home-topscroll

The NUJS SJA has now given a statement in support of the NLSIU SBA. I cannot understand the need to do this, especially as the NSLIU SBA refuses join in a #NationaliseNLUs protest and prefers to lobby separately. Its time the SJA starts minding its own business and concentrating on the many problems in NUJS.

sja.nujs.edu/newsroom/2019/07/03/statement-of-solidarity-2

Since the SJA has not retracted the charge of minutes being manipulated and Taluk & Co never rebutted conclusively (if at all), EC/AC/FC minutes till recently were open to manipulation. It is said that in recent past certain EC members were very displeased and effected the current practice of having the minutes typed real-time and not leave it to the caprices of problematic VCs and Registrars (Acting) and their "chosen" DEOs.

Be that as it may, I do agree that EC/AC/FC must share some responsibility for giving a free pass to PIB administration. Taluk of course beautifully played the role of a night watchman for the state, which may have its own reasons for having gone soft on PIB & Co thus far.

Assuming that someone has read the relevant minutes properly, there have been repeated mentions of distance edu course approvals being contingent on UGC approvals or the assurance by PIB that permissions will come through. Another point to be noted is how were the AC/EC agendas discussed? Were the relevant papers made available? How was the topic discussed? Did PIB pull his rank/authority to close off certain discussions? Did certain EC/AC members dissent but the minutes conveniently edit those out?

Here is how I see things will likely go. The university will have to admit to the courts, directly or indirectly that there was a colossal f**k up and therefore it will refund etc. Once that chapter closes there, NKC will be under pressure to let matters rest here. And it is likely that he will do that due to his IL links, which will be terrible. Chernobyl will happen eventually. In a sense we are already in it.

However, should NKC facing counter pressure were to instead take action on an inquiry conducted transparently and objectively, then heads will roll. Yes, it will be chaotic. But this creative destruction is necessary for NUJS to arrest its descent.

It is for the university and its governors to apportion the blame. That shouldn't paralyze them from acting on the evidence of wrongdoing and institutional cover-up. Time's up.

BJP troll you were right about state edu minister (and the piece on CM was a gem). But wrong on Ms Moitra thewire.in/media/mahua-moitra-wins-round-two-as-plagiarism-charge-falls-flat

Maybe there is hope that a complaint against rather particular forms of plagiarism will now be taken up by NKC. After all he has some idea that the charge is not actually without merit.

I thank Kian for removing references to the lady teacher. Few countries are as misogynistic as India. It seems to be a curse for working women in India to be both brainy as well as confident, smart and stylish. It is sad to see even so-called educated students suffering from these prejudices.

West Bengal Assembly passes law raising retirement age of state-aided universities’ vice-chancellors from 65 to 70 years


www.firstpost.com/india/west-bengal-assembly-passes-law-raising-retirement-age-of-state-aided-universities-vice-chancellors-from-65-to-70-years-6931031.html

Isn't it interesting that NKC turns 65 this year?

Is the Nationalise NLUs joint protest happening or not?? Why did the SJA give a statement opposing the NLSIU fee hike if their students will not support the SJA in any protest??

Kian, while in theory censoring political comments may sound good, please remember the following:

1. What is happening in NUJS is directly linked with the political situation in Bengal. The domicile quota is linked to Mamata Banerjee's desperate attempts at creating a split between Bengalis and "outsiders" following her election setback.

2. The VC of CU (also on the NUJS EC) is widely seen as a TMC stooge and controversially gave an honorary PhD to Mamata. This was hugely criticised in Bengal.

3. The Advocate General (also on the EC) is a similarly controversial person. There were three very eminent Advocate Generals appointed by Mamata before him (all Senior Advocates and English barristers who are among the Cal HC's top lawyers). They all resigned because they refused to compromise with professional ethics (the last one being Mr Jayanta Mitra, who lashed out at the Mamata government and said they were asking him to do unethical things). The new AG is a little known lawyer with links to the TMC. The SJA has lambasted him in several emails.

4. The law minister is forcing NUJS to make political appointments and open a campus in his constituency.

5. Lastly, if Mamata (hopefully) loses the assembly election, there will be major implications for NUJS. The following will happen:

a) A return to the tradition of appointing eminent lawyers as Advocate General.
b) A new law minister
c) Ouster of the CU VC
d) An educated, bhadralok CM with an academic background (Swapan Dasgupta)
e) Possibly, an influential role for three lawyers originally from Bengal who are close to the Modi government: Vikramjit Banerjee (a former NUJS assistant professor himself), Som Mandal and Madhavi Divan. Som Mandal is a vocal critic of Mamata and tweets against her everyday. twitter.com/sommandaloffice

Why no scoops etc on SH termination, distance education refunds, and action against those who nearly jeopardized the career of an alumna? Not important?

NKC as VC was a foregone conclusion. Will be interesting to see if the other predictions concerning him come true.

NLSIU SBA is trying so hard to get Sudhir appointed, while the SJA was sucking its thumbs as NKC was chosen over VCV. You reap what you sow.

Whether you disguise yourself as Guest or any other thing, you do realize that everyone knows you. But I learnt to "ghost" from the best. Your friend Law Ninja.

While MPS flagged off certain distance education courses, the real push came from PIB. So we don't need to go back to 2000. For clarification we can ask the OtherSen on campus. Why so silent, having lighted the spark?

Lord Taluk who could have settled this distance education mess may months ago but for unstated reasons he let the matter fester. Old habits die hard. Lord Taluk was in the EC when the SH offender was generously kept on suspension and the SCM matter (still in the court) was dragged out. Lord Taluk was also in the EC and authored a ludicrous opinion (against a well-written opinion by Justice Shyamal Sen) to save rather particular academic and his amigos.

The distance education students prefer to get the refunds. And they will eventually get 100% despite the university volunteering to pay its share of 30-40% as the case maybe. Distance edu students who graduated with due certificates of completion are unlikely to approach the university or courts for refund. It will be a different matter if the university were to announce that all certificates given till date stand cancelled.

But that will only happen if the courts were to wade deeper. Right now it seems that both Delhi and Calcutta HCs will simply focus on how to facilitate 100% refunds for students. It may not delve into legal status of these courses if the aggrieved students and the university settle it at the level of refunds.

The SJA doesn't want the university to touch the fees received from undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral students. All refunds will only be taken out of distance education fees currently available with the university, including funds that are yet to be transferred to private partners. This is going to become a flash point but the courts are likely going to say something like this to the university - "refund 100% and recover from pvt partners, if the law permits and/or from the guilty university staff."

The last bit is going to be tricky. However, there have been numerous instances when the state or central government was asked to pay up and then recover the funds paid from the salary/PF of the errant officers. In some cases they were made personally liable and made to pay compensation directly.

The tricky bit will not be absence of precedents but one of institutional will. Will NKC going against his IL friends? Will the AG and others stop playing tricks and conduct/allow the inquiry to be completed in a fair, objective and timely manner? One of the alleged wrongdoers scurried away on a lien. Another went out of town today as a crucial hearing is coming up next week in the Calcutta HC.

The SJA should remember how the Calcutta HC instituted Justice PN Sinha Inquiry Report which led to the thankful termination of SCM was subsequently buried by PIB and later by Lord Taluk and AG. I still cannot fathom why Lord Taluk did it. The motivations of PIB and AG are very obvious. SJA must ensure that not only the Justice PN Sinha Report is exhumed and implemented but also the proper completion of pending inquiries.

Why is NKC yet to take action on the Maitra Inquiry Report? Registrar (Acting) stalling just as she tried to do with SH, distance education and other matters?

Does NUJS plan to do anything in memory of Prof Menon? Something major must be done.

Message from former NUJS prof Prabhash Ranjan

NUJS students have just done a surgical strike doing this :) Well done! Invite Swapan Dasgupta, Anirban Ganguly, SS Ahluwalia and Som Mandal next! And from the CPIM Bikash Bhattacharya and from the Congress Adhir Chowdhury and Arunava Ghosh.

Dr Subramanian Swamy will be in Kolkata next week (according to his Twitter profile) so he can be invited for a talk on improving legal education (he is a former law minister).

VCV may well be headed to NLSIU now after yesterday's drama. Pity NUJS students did not fight for him.

Is the SJA planning to take up domicile quota with NKC? Only 5 months till the next CLAT notification comes out. The strategies should be to seek a further postponement till 2021, approach the Chancellor and file a PIL with NLSIU students in the SC on NLU Nationalisation (if they selfishly don't agree then demand a similar quota at NLSIU).

To build pressure against the NUJS admin, the strategy of the IDG should be to invite critics of the Mamata govt belonging to all sides of the political arena and civil society. This should be the broad pool for the next few guests:

- Neeraj Kishan Kaul, who represented Priyanka Sharma in the meme case (to speak on the case)
- Mukul Rohatgi, who has appeared in many case against the Bengal govt
- Bikash Bhattacharya from CPIM (to speak on the Saradha scam, where he is representing the victims pro bono)
- Swapan Dasgupta and Anirban Ganguly from BJP
- Adhir Chowdhury and Arunava Ghosh from Congress

Today's Telegraph features an attempt by NKC to show himself in good light. It's embarrassing even by CU and KIIT standards. This man's vision to transform NUJS is to make students visit courts and tribunals..LOLZ. As if this is Hazra Law College, where students don't intern with top lawyers and NGOs. Not one word on foreign collaborations, revamping the website, MoUs with law firms, roping in alumni etc. He does speak about improving research, but you need to be a top-notch published researcher yourself to lead efforts to make people publish in good journals.

Looking forward to his stooges replying with a strong defence and how he is still better than VCV!!!

There are no "internal regulations" as such. That's the reason why depending on the VC or the Registrar or both, file movements, faculty appointments, contractual salaries etc can swing wildly. The university has no internal rules governing finance although it will say that they follow GFR. But PN Sinha Report will clearly show that the university did not follow it. Know what, just do a spot quiz in the accounts section and see how it goes, AO included.

NKC is all talk. Taking action will cost him dearly. And he has to return so many favours. That has already started. Check the process of guest faculty selections, IPR Chair etc. If you want him to actually take action, you know what to do.

And let's not talk about TT. They are all about fluff. Politically they are squeezed. They have a lot of pending bills with the state government and demonetization had an adverse impact on the ABP group. There is a family feud as well. Recently the centre decided to reduce its funding for ads in TT/ABP. Massive lay offs have taken place. Fluff is all they have.

livewire.thewire.in/campus/at-nalsar-hostels-are-segregated-on-the-basis-of-clat-scores-and-caste/

I agree with #68 about NKC being all talk and Telegraph parroting TMC propaganda. About NKC's so-called plans, you cannot improve research output or teaching if senior profs are incompetent and plagiarisers in the first place. Realistically, what can be done is outsourcing certain tasks to the SJA and alumni, such as website revamp (students can do it), guest lectures (students can invite alumni of NUJS and other NLUs living in Kolkata) and exchanges with foreign universities (students can write to alumni and contacts based abroad).

The next scam at NUJS will be the IPR chair selection.

Not sure about the guest faculty selection process, but it has yielded at least two alumni ready and willing to join. I wouldn't say that's exactly a bad output at such short notice of a week. Of course, miles and miles to go still. But naysayers don't get anything done at all. So every small move forward helps.

Responding to MA student. Simply put, WBNUJS and iPleaders both lied. It is a different matter that university can later go after the erring officials. But will it? The manner in which the Justice PN Sinha report was buried does not give high hopes.

iPleaders is also guilty of misrepresentation. They cannot simply say it was the university's responsibility to get the due permissions from the UGC etc. They knew very well that the university did not have the permissions. And as a student you should have checked the UGC DEB website. Or simply sought better clarification from the university. Maybe you did that and still got a fake answer.

I empathize with your situation. But it puzzles me why have the aggrieved distance education students not come down harder on iPleaders and the SDME officials, especially the Director? You all could have easily petitioned the NUJS EC directly when Justice Talukdar was not responding to calls and emails. Why no complaints against him or the Registrar or the SDME Director? Why hasn't iPleaders approached the EC till date? Will it do now because their friends inside the university think that they have "their man" in the chair now?

Is that why certain worthies with the help of a "friendly" Registrar are having frentic pow wows with the new VC?

Senior Advocate Jagdeep Dhankhar has just been announced as the new governor of Bengal. The SJA must approach him and request his help is their fight against the injustices inflicted upon NUJS by the TMC squad.

The new Bengal governor is a senior lawyer from BJP.

Here are the social media details of new Bengal governor, Senior Adv Mr Dhankhar. West Bengal is now possibly the only state with a lawyer as governor and the students should cultivate him in their battle against Mamata's interference with NUJS.

twitter.com/jdhankhar1
www.facebook.com/centerforhuman.rights

Swapan Dasgupta has raised an important point in the Rajya Sabha: there is no clear criteria to distinguish a state university from a central university. The time is right for a #NationaliseNLUs PIL.

Does anyone have any clue about what action has our new VC initiated on the matter relating to an alumna? RG and AR Acad were held guilty. Slap on the wrist again? Whoopsie, that's a SlapGate of a different kind.

And what about SH matter? Will NKC do a PIB here too? No recovery of our money frittered away? What about investigating those who allowed this to happen? Can't we go after them? Make them pay up?

Many say we should give NKC a chance. I agree. Let's get the SJA to tell him the following and see what he actually does other than mumbling -

1. Real, tangible action on RG and AR Acad. Not the LDG variety.

2. Complete the Registrar and AO selections. No more interims and ad hocs. We shall not be starved.

3. Approximately Rs 50 lacs was paid to the SH guy between Aug 2013 to June 2019. Actually check if he is still getting paid. You can never trust the Registrar and AO.

4. All inquiries need to be assigned an end date.

5. PN Sinha Report needs to be implemented and money recovered from the erring university officials.

6. Chair and centre appointments cannot be shrouded in opacity. There needs to be a proper policy in place. Cannot be used to return or curry favours by VC and his acolytes.

Everyday TMC goons are engaging in murder and hooliganism. Meanwhile, Mamata is usurping educational institutions and appointing puppet VCs. NUJS is slowly being injected with this poison but students are failing to act. It may be too late when the students finally find the poison unbearable and decide to fight back. A Nationalise NLUs PIL and protest against the TMC puppets is a must.

BREAKING NEWS: Mamata has just announced 50% domicile reservation in NUJS and admission through the West Bengal state board exam. She made this announcement in her big rally speech (which was broadcast live on many channels) while listing her government's so-called "achievements" in education.

I would like to know what the SJA has to say about this, since they have welcomed NKC and not supported VCV.

www.telegraphindia.com/states/west-bengal/regulator-slams-jadavpur-university-domicile-quota/cid/1694968?ref=west-bengal_west-bengal-page

But the WB govt does not care. The politically connect will get jobs. As with the left, many green politicos too have the funding to send their children abroad or in other states. And those who cannot or will not leave Bengal are simply
not in a position to do anything. They will keep scrambling to get what they can.

There is no immediate political incentive to reverse the quota politics. To paraphrase Clinton for Bengal..."its politics, stupid". The economics comes later, if at all, in this part of the world.

In a shameful development today, TMC lawyers have announced a boycott of Justice Samapti Chatterjee's court, after she stood up to bullying and intimidation by a TMC lawyer-MP. The SJA must now invite Justice Chatterjee for a talk. It can be on a non-controversial topic, e.g, women in the judiciary, but the purpose will be to send a signal to TMC elements at NUJS that students will resist their attempted takeover of NUJS.

www.news18.com/news/india/govt-empanelled-lawyers-boycott-calcutta-hc-judges-court-as-she-heckles-them-during-hearings-2240817.html

www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/kolkata-lady-judge-stands-intimidation-tmc-leader

Draft student petition:

Saffron troll why are you playing with fire? Why this cowardly keyboard trick involving misappropriation of NUJS and SJA letterhead? If you and your fellow travelers want to express yourself, just do it. Why drag someone else into it without due consultation?

And after this underhanded act, you expect SJA and NUJS students to agree with your points? Why are you bent on making this campus another political battleground. None of us are happy with the politicking that was started by Lord Taluk, KD and his friends in the EC. You really think that judges are beyond it?

Do you really think Justice Samapti Chatterjee needs trolls such as you to defend her dignity? She is not that fragile. Cannot say that same for many of her peers who grace the bench or in the recent past.

If you are fishing for trouble, go elsewhere. If you really want to help NUJS, help us with the following -

1. Insulate the VC from politics. This includes having KD and his pals back off without going saffron.

2. Swift and meaningful completion of the pending inquiries without fear or favour; and decisive steps thereafter.

3. Implementation of the Justice PN Sinha Inquiry Report and special audit of NUJS finances etc.

4. Ensuring financial, administrative and academic autonomy of NUJS. This means saffron only gets to be inside campus as part of a rainbow, at best.

Nothing politically lucrative, huh? F**k off. And you can take the green and red with you as well. I think you are PK...you wear all the jerseys for a fee.

Responding to @what ipleaders and @pop singer nemesis

You may drink polyjuice and try to mislead or pose as someone else but your identity is well known. You frequently meet the Registrar and spend hours undoing the work that she should have actually done. You have been doing this while Taluk was around and compelled to continue because NKC isn't being as friendly as you'd have wanted him to be on campus. Not his fault actually. The evidence against you is compelling and he has lobbied hard for this chair. You need to up the incentives. The usual ones will not work.

Here is a tip. Unless you are already consulting (which I am sure you have because both of you are in same boat), get in touch with the veteran EC and AC member. Has multiple connections to VC.

I completely agree that it is NUJS that must bear the consequences. Whether it will or can successfully pursue a separate action against iPleaders is a different matter. However, I think that is the scare tactic that you want the Registrar to belt to the VC and her patrons in the EC.

I know that the sad story of Justice PN Sinha Inquiry which you are rumoured to have micromanaged, gives you hope that university will not initiate recovery proceedings or really go after the erring insiders (some Damned souls continue to be in business) but you real dread the prospect if the university comes after you and your friends who shepherded and sheltered these deals.

You falsely believe that prolonging the stay of the Registrar and AO will help you. It has until now. Her patrons in the EC also don't want the trail to reach some sensitive places...and maybe that's really the lever that your group is using to keep the inquiries in a stillborn state. Are you sure things will stay that way? Maybe you are betting too much on the Registrar, VC and some EC members. Remember that your EC friends have only been able to slow things down including maybe getting the university lawyer to adopt dilatory tactics. But they never had the space to disagree that the entire distance education business was illegal. Ask your friends, especially the Registrar and former EC member the verbal lashings that the latter has suffered. You know it is not going to remain verbal much longer.

I totally agree that the Justice League are an incompetent lot. They are hitching a ride on the work that was done by a former SJA Prez who you hate just because he told you and your gang to Try Legal? But you keep pleading-a-lot of s**t.

Refunds have been okayed by the EC. Trust me your pocket will not go untouched. Far too long your gang has ripped off student fees.

Parmesan cheese moved recently. Better start packing. Maybe you all can be accommodated by the new Nizam of Hyderabad. You know the one I am talking about.

BTW Tathagata Roy may be the next Bengal CM, so it was indeed very smart to invite him. Anirban Ganguly also has an outside chance. The students must cultivate such people now, so that NUJS will have goodwill in the next govt and can hope for better funding. Mamata gave thousands crores to rubbish universities, including a new minority university she started called Aliah University, which is of very poor standard.

theleaflet.in/nlsui-llm-2018-batch-students-allege-loss-of-job-opportunities-as-university-delays-exam-results/

I don't know how the LLMs are faring at NUJS. Maybe some folks in the SJA can be designated to liaison with LLMs who probaby suffer quietly. Then again they stay shorter unless they end up in the Faulty club. Guess that's how the oppressed-oppressor dynamic works here.

But this also makes me very interested to know about the action taken on those who almost messed up the career of an alumna because wrist-slaps will not do. And even now we suffer. The academic section sucks. Something decisive must be done.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/lawyers-call-off-boycott-of-cal-hc-judges-court/articleshow/70354336.cms

This shows that we still have judges who refuse to be stared down by KB and KD gang. More power to such judges.

Why should we suffer and tolerate KD's tantrums and rule by proxy at NUJS?

Hey saffron trolls. Why so quiet? www.ndtv.com/education/no-proposal-before-centre-to-nationalise-national-law-universities-2074777

Cat got your tongue? I totally love the irony. Question was posed by a fellow BJP parliamentarian and the finality with which the "nationalization" charade was demolished, simply priceless.

Here is the thing. I absolutely abhor what is going on right now. PIB tried, Taluk initiated and NKC will be giving the finishing touches to the political takeover of NUJS. If the greens exit, the saffron will complete the unfinished business. What I particularly love about this development is this: it finally stops the saffron hardsell and finally gets us (hopefully) to pursue other alternate pathways, which we should have walked a long time ago.

Some commentators here repeatedly opined that INI is a pipe dream. The politics and economics at play simply don't support such a move. AIJS however nebulous it has been all these years is still a good political sell. INI isn't.

Here is the biting reality to confront.

1. NKC will sell us out. He has started it already. And it has nothing to do with political pressure. Selling out got him this far and there is no reason to get off a tried and tested gravy train. In any event, NUJS is the gravy train right now.

2. Unfortunately, a saffron loss in this state (at least) may have actually helped NUJS. But that's a silly thing to say because someone shares Trump traits here anyway. But there was an odd chance that if the saffron folks had not spooked the green (wo)men so badly, the political imperative to have the domicile quota imposed so heavily wouldn't have been there. Just saying we may have been able to snatch some elbow room.

3. The Governor and Chancellor trips will not work. What is the better "voting" proposition that we can give against quota? Sure there is no conclusive evidence that quotas don't equal to votes. But try telling that to green (wo)men. Actually try that on saffron folks as well. Unless we come with a better political payoff proposition at the level of perception, quota is what will fly.

4. Loss of quality, erosion of national or cosmopolitan character and other such claims will need to be backed by solid evidence, even if not conclusive. Even then there are no guarantees because this state (as do many others) has a rich history of hollowing out institutions while howling against such acts by political opponents elsewhere.

5. While we are worked up, has anyone even bothered to check with Faulty. Yes they all are pretty much lost cause but why let them off for that? While we get screwed why should they be allowed to live off so handsomely on our money. Let's put them under the glare and take their masks off. They cannot be drawing central benefits while letting the state mutilate us. Their salaries etc must be at same level as their peers. Most of the Faulty don't even deserve that.

6. If the state treats us as playthings and vermins and lords over our money, then we should follow a scorched earth policy. Cut off their lines of profits. Expose their agents. Make no mistake. We will lose the quota and CLAT battle against the forces of the state. But following a scorched earth policy, we must give them a fight that they will remember. Maybe after a bruising battle they will leave us be. And they can take their so-called grants up their.....and fill up holes in other places. We can and will do better without their money and the jokers on campus.

After NKC coming in as Vc several NUJS alum are returning to teach at their alma mater. Does this mean good days ahead for NUJS? The #1 Faculty among the NLUs

www.telegraphindia.com/states/west-bengal/sheen-off-bengal-engineering-courses/cid/1695727?ref=west-bengal_west-bengal-page

The writing on the wall for NUJS? If only people knew how VC is effecting the quiet but rapid sell out.

Justice League and Injustice League are done fighting for now. While they are divvying, the students are going to get f****d big time.

KIIT has got IOE status, so tight slap to those who were mocking Prof Chakrabarti. Note that Prof Faizan Mustafa is from KIIT also.

www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2019/aug/03/kiit-varsity-accorded-institute-of-eminence-tag-2013453.html

BREAKING NEWS: NUJS EC member and IIM director's appointment opposed by Home Ministry for being US citizen

indianexpress.com/article/education/iim-calcutta-oci-card-holder-director-hrd-5865388/

Dear SJA, please correct the topic of the Menon Conclave. It is grammatically incorrect and sounds ridiculous as well.

sja.nujs.edu/newsroom/2019/08/03/1st-prof-dr-madhava-menon-legal-conclave

thewire.in/education/ugc-institute-of-eminence-tag-ashoka-jadavpur-university-amu

The JU VC despite being a "party man" (Red turned Green) tried so hard to stall the domicile quota to better JU's chances of getting the IoE tag and funding. But political considerations trumped everything. With INI poofed by the saffron, glorious days ahead for NUJS under the ever ready to crawl when asked to bend administration.

While VC effects the sell out the other VP keeps shuttling between VC and Registrar to curry favours. Also had I not seen it with my own I wouldn't have known how irresistible M&M can be for the aforementioned VP. It so sweet that it is bitter. It can get Dam(N) confusing because another VP is also chummy with MM.

Please don't blame the SJA. As @Guest (97) would have us believe, the presence of a certain academic ensured that KIIT got IoE. This conclave is his brainchild and so is the topic and its phrasing. Anyway its all dine and wine at our expense as things have always been. Many "business opportunities" for a collective flab called....

By the way @Guest (97) by your logic, Sudhir Krishnaswamy should now be evicted from the NLSIU VC race because APU failed to make the cut www.ndtv.com/education/institutions-of-eminence-ugc-releases-list-includes-iits-iisc-jio-institute-delhi-university-bits-pi-2079531?pfrom=home-people

Now that SK has been graded C, he must come to NUJS. Oh wait that seat is already occupied.

When in trouble start the blame game www.telegraphindia.com/states/west-bengal/partha-chatterjees-cheat-barb-at-centre-on-ju/cid/1695808

Since IoE concept did not even consider NLUs at design stage, some smarty pants thought that ranting can get us INI. NLUs are neither eminent nor important in the scheme of things right now and unlikely in the near future. We may have been modeled on IITs and IIMs but we never acquired the traction that they acquired and continue to hold.

INI was a concept that has mostly had a political run. NLUs are not politically lucrative to the Centre. Central Universities are being directed to raise 30% funding from other sources. NIT costs are shared with states. So-called autonomous institutes but heavily dependent on Centre for funding (including reputed ones like TIFR, SINP etc) are being read the riot act. Despite the politics and optics, Patna University was denied a Central Univ status upgrade. IIIT only under PPP mode.

What is the way out for NUJS? NKC believes it is NAAC. I can only shudder in horror at the prospect of NUJS going for NAAC accreditation. We will be officially branded "second tier". Of course NKC and his friends know everything. Ask VP for further details. I know this can be confusing but whichever you catch should have info based on the daily visits made to and time spent in VC and Registrar offices.

After Sudhir's appointment at NLSIU SJA should hang its head in shame that it di into agitate for a good VC.

The SJA must invite this person for a talk. In fact, he used to be in the NUJS EC in its early days and guided the college,until Mamata shunted him out. He is a living legal luminary (like others in his illustrious family) and was denied elevation to the SC because of dirty Congress politics.

"This is the end, my only friend, the end" www.telegraphindia.com/states/west-bengal/jadavpur-university-tech-seats-go-vacant/cid/1697042

Coming soon to NUJS. VP responsible for this. Confused? Doesn't matter they are chaddi buddies. What's the point of trying to lord over ashes?