An NLU Delhi professor who had applied for the post of vice-chancellor (VC) has filed a writ petition in the Delhi high court over the selection process for VC, terming it “grossly illegal, arbitrary, unreasonable and not germane to the principle of intelligible differentia”.
Prof (Dr) Prasannanshu (pictured) teaches at NLU Delhi since 2009, having joined as an assistant professor and becoming full professor in 2015.
He stated in his petition that he had applied for the VC position on 11 November 2019.
However, he was never called to the selection committee meeting on 5 Feburary 2020 and the interaction with candidates on 25 February, nor was he provided with any communication or “any letter highlighting reasons for not inviting his candidature to the interview despite meeting the requirements enshrined in the advertisement” of October 2019.
Prasannanshu claimed that his fundamental rights to equality were not respected, and he was therefore forced to file the writ before the Delhi high court on 22 June 2020 against the VC selection committee, as well as NLU Delhi.
He teaches subjects such as “law and language, law and literature, law and communication, law and poetry, law and culture, linguistic justice and endangered languages”, according to his petition.
While he holds an LLB (from where is not specified on his university profile), the majority of his further education consists of non-law degrees: a BSc from Delhi University (DU), as well as a DU linguistics MA, MPhil and PhD.
He said in his petition that his not being invited for interview, fundamentally amounted to discrimination against non-law teachers:
In the workload the teachers of Humanities and Social Sciences are not behind any other teacher, rather they often bear greater load, as they handle their unnamed and de facto department...
... it is not mandatory that an eminent jurist applying for the post of VC must be a scholar in law as in view of the subjects being taught, and the interdisciplinary thrust of the modern academic thinking this is anachronous.
... based upon merit people who are classified (somewhat arbitrarily) as Non-Law Professors, if given an equal opportunity can do well like their colleagues from the classical fields of law. If we don’t follow this logic then we are somewhat falling into the trap of a thinking akin to the one that believed in a ‘Master Race’, with the modification that if one belongs to the field of Law then that person is inherently superior and can manage to do well in all roles in all institutions whether such institutions teach Law or not, and if we stretch this dangerous argument further, it would mean that people who are not from ‘privileged’ fields suffer from some mysterious handicaps and cannot be equals with Professors of Law.
He also added that a “shroud of secrecy has been maintained to the extent that no information about the whole process is available even to the candidates like the petitioner”.
We have reached out to NLU Delhi for comment.
The Delhi high court in its video conference hearing yesterday said that the petition was premature (see below), since the selection of the committee was with the chancellor at present, and disposed of the application for the time being, declining to issue a stay.
However, the court noted that NLU Delhi’s registrar should forward the Prasannanshu’s “representation before the Chancellor for consideration”.
[documentcloud Copy of writ petition
[documentcloud Delhi HC order
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This is a text book case of a person finally not getting what he wanted because he was too used to getting everything easily.
1.Srividhya Raghavan has said on record that she was asked to apply by someone within the NLUD governing bodies. Question is "by whom"? She is close to Ranbir Singh, but why would Ranbir prefer her to his good friend Jaswal, or a similar TLC man? Answer: It was obviously NOT Ranbir who asked her to apply. It was someone else in the governing bodies who wanted NLUD to follow NLSIU and appoint a young NLU alum VC with international qualifications. Who was it? There are close to 50 people in all the governing bodies, but my hunch fell upon an eminent lawyer. I asked sources at NLUD, and they confirmed it was this person.
2. If you look at the composition of the committee itself (Sistani, Vijaykumar and Chauhan) you can plainly see that Vijaykumar and Chauhan are old-school TLC people. They will probably oppose Srividhya. However Sistani is a judge. If he makes enquires with eminent persons like this lawyer, they will unanimously say that Srividhya is better. If Sistani sticks to his guns, this may result in a stalemate and the Chancellor (CJ Patel) will have to intervene. The Chancellor is likely to go with Sistani. However, if Sistani defers to Vijaykumar and Chauhan then expect a TLC candidate.
3. The TLC candidates with the best chance are Jaswal and Rao, since they have been VCs. Because of the recent controversies, Jaswal may have to be overlooked. Another advantage that Rao has is that he has an MPhil from NLSIU, so is technically an NLSIU alum as well. So this can be marketed as a compromise.
4. Meanwhile, another problem with Srividhya is that full flights are unlikely to resume before January, so that can work against her.
5. Some people have floated Afzal Wani's name. He has zero chance. When I asked my source, he laughed at who spread this rumour.
indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/law-varsity-to-probe-professors-misconduct-6195346/
Previously GSB application was challenged on the grounds that he does not have a formal degree in law and also that he was felled by an inquiry in NLIU and later rehabilitated here by RS. GSB was appointed as Registrar by RS using emergency powers and that appointment was never reviewed or regularized formally. This is a trick that VCs often use to get their acolytes in key admin positions. Check NUJS (SAK and SS) and RGNUL (Nuts)
If authorities had no problem in having GSB in the VC pool, they shouldn't be making exceptions here. Also the role of HCs in NLU governance should be scrutinized. RS, PJ, SSS, PIB/Taluk/NKC et al have been given a free reign and often tacit cover by regime friendly HCs.
Reminds me of someone in the NLUniverse. Except the faculty are a divided lot. Also for SR fan club, (meaninglessly) assuming that you have no personal interests involved (imaginary or otherwise), "West" needn't mean best. Just look south.
delhihighcourt.nic.in/dhc_case_status_oj_list.asp?pno=890371
www.opindia.com/2020/06/wikipedia-opindia-crusade-left-bias-wiki-editors-negative-all-you-need-to-know/
tfipost.com/2020/01/a-shady-wikipedia-user-is-targeting-right-wing-wiki-pages-opindia-swarajya-and-vivek-agnihotri-top-targets/
I worry that she may be forced to give up the fight, withdraw her charges and render an apology. Nobody is supporting her because of fear of the NLSIU mafia.
medium.com/@umarnizarudeen/code-omerta-laffaire-lawrence-liang-and-the-silence-of-documentary-filmmakers-7529105919e8
For more on what went down at ALF since its founding years, you may also get in touch with Messiah and his Hand at law school. Following orders, isn't a good excuse anymore.
Oh yes, other LL related heat, ALF also lost a friendly funding. That space has now been ceded to CFLR. Follow the money and everything will be
Kian, let me tell you that you are covering up a massive scandal. ALF has been a very popular internship destination for 20 years, hosting hundreds of NLU interns. Yet, as the Wire report says, sexual harassment was rife. [...]
In response to a query from a commentator, yes I meant CLPR. Apologies for the typo.
Yes brothers Grimm, now in Switzerland and Australia were the main guys. Some others (more NLSIU folks) have also relocated abroad. Not just the backlash from LL but ALF lost massive donations. Cannot blame changed political atmospherics although that was made the punching bag. Another gloss was "transition of control to younger lot" [...].
Big cheques/payouts had stopped. LL issue was too much pressure. His exit and other quick fixes wasn't limiting the damage. And the backlash could quickly go political given that ALF was doing many things "political" at various levels. Overall the "top management" made a safe exit. Once things cool off, they will return. All will be forgotten. Maybe even forgiven.
On a related note, it is interesting how many in NUJS - faculty, alumni etc went after (possibly rightly so) a former SC judge. But when it came to another former SC judge, that girl was simply left to fend for herself. Why such a stark difference?
Please refer to your above statement. You may be surprised to note that both PSJ and KDR have far better academic credentials than Ranbir Singh. That means either PSJ or KDR will be a better VC than RS. Why do you worry?
1. Mayur Suresh: Lecturer at SOAS (NLSIU alum)
2. Arvind Narrain: Director at ARC International Geneva (NLSIU alum)
3. Siddharth Narrain: Doing a PhD in Australia (NLSIU alum)
4. Prashant Iyengar: Doing a PhD in Columbia (NALSAR alum and former JGLS prof)
5. Danish Sheikh: Doing a PhD in Australia (NALSAR alum and former JGLS prof)
6. Clifton D'Rozario: Senior Advocate with Manthan Law State Secretary of CPI(ML) Karnataka
Quote:
thewire.in/gender/in-finding-dean-guilty-university-expands-jurisdiction-over-sexual-harassment
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