A Common Cause which was paused and needs to be readdressed


Amidst the financial apathy and lack of funds from the government, lack lustre
leadership and administrative failure at the institutional level for procurement of the
same, students staged a protest and went on agitation demanding administrative
overhaul and demanded audit of the University expenditure and alleged misuse of
funds generated through fee deposit of each student of the University at graduate, post
graduate and Doctoral courses. This being, the hard earned money paid by the
parents to shape the future of their wards gives rise to a legitimate expectation
regarding quality conditions conducive for study, which includes infrastructural
developments at all levels, such as, state of the art lecture theatres, library, auditorium,
moot court halls and facilities for sports and recreational activities which would lead
to overall development of the personality and inculcate an aptitude for study and
research necessary for a bright future.



Despite umpteen promises made by the past and current administration, the situation
remains awful. We see a leadership vacuum and our expectations compromised by
appointing a non-academician as the head of the institution, who is a mere law
graduate and is not eligible to hold the position of a Vice-chancellor (In-charge)
as per the mandate of the statute governing the University (the NUSRL Act,
2010). Besides, the current leadership stands vitiated and driven by personal
preferences and biases. A few faces who are/ were frequent visitors to the VC –in
Charge Mr. Gautam Chaudhary, namely Dr.MRS Murthy and his wife Dr.K
Shyamala, who had better terms with him, which seemingly developed in the reign of
Justice Virender Singh, ex-Chief Justice, Jharkhand High Court who also made
similar promises every time he visited the campus and outside as the Chancellor of the
University. What seems alarming is that none of his promises ever carried out in
reality.



Dr.MRS Murthy and his wife Dr.K Shyamala worked in a project with current
Vice-Chancellor (In-charge) who was then the Director of the Jharkhand
Judicial Academy, Ranchi, without taking permission or even intimating the
University which is a violation of the terms in their offer letter stipulating that
they cannot take up any other employment whether part time or full time. The

1

 couple utilised the resources of the University, primarily students concealing this
fact from the concerned authorities in the University. Also, whimsical and
preferential selections were made while selecting the students for the project.
When the then Vice Chancellor raised objection in this respect, they failed to
give any reasonable explanation.


The above mentioned point seems to be a reasonable explanation for the appointment
of Dr.MRS Murthy as Asst. Registrar (In-charge) of the university, who was already
holding the position of the Controller of examinations and failed to deliver as such in
terms of resolution of any of our problems including attendance, etc. Our endeavour
for administrative overhaul miserably failed by the reshuffling of the posts based
on personal preferences. What seems even more surprising is that the
appointment of Mr. Gautam Chaudhary as the Vice Chancellor in Charge and
also the Registrar on a temporary basis who was appointed because of
administrative failure in the University, delegated his powers to the same
administration by reshuffling it according to his whims and fancies which defies
the purpose of entire exercise which we had gathered for and hence the result of
our struggle has become futile. It remains questionable that whether the in-charge
Vice-chancellor has the power to make such appointments such as Asst. Registrar and
Dean (Academics) which was later change to Asst. Dean (Academics) after being
informed about the error because of lack of basic knowledge of academic matters and
UGC norms.



The couple (Dr.MRS Murthy and his wife Dr.K Shyamala) uses one email id for
all official communications including important offices of that of COE—Assistant
registrar/ chairman anti- ragging cell/ chairman MCC/ internship and placement
committee which leads to a presumption of no secrecy/ loss of confidentiality in all
matters of the university. Not only this, the calls on the official cell phone of the Asst
Registrar/ COE (official number as given in our compendiums/ student manual) are
received by his spouse i.e. Dr.K Shyamala. In fact what seems to be an order of the
day is that the communications through mail for all official purposes is actually made
by Dr.K Shyamala. She seems to be de-facto Assistant registrar, Controller of
Examinations, and she seems also to be the favourite of the Vice-Chancellor (incharge) for all vital decisions which is evident from the fact that she has been made
that either convenor or co-convenor of various committees while other faculties who

2

 were successfully running the committees and holding seminars, conferences,
symposiums, moot court competitions have been either removed altogether

or

replaced by the new favourite convenor or their role been reduced owing to personal
preferences.


There is no medical facility in the university which houses around six hundred
students. The doctor who was visiting the campus has been long removed and no
replacement has been made ever since the removal. The ambulance (a donated jeep)
facility in the university needs no introduction. The ambulance being in pathetic
condition can prove to be life threatening any day, besides not being able to arrive in
time when needed badly. Such tales are endless.



As regards the mess facility provided by the university, the least said the better. There
have been so many student agitations because of the poor quality of food, hygiene
issues, lack of cleanliness in cooking and dining areas and shortage of furniture in the
dining hall. Earlier the university had taken the excuse of low mess fee paid by the
students. The situation has only worsened to such an extent that plastic eggs, rotten
vegetables, undercooked rice and chapattis are being served without any shame. It is
ironical that the Mess-contractor has been given five years contract without any
option of renewal, while earlier the mess contract was never extended for a period
over an year without renewal. This raises questions regarding the sudden shift in
policy which was never in existence even when we had a regular Vice-Chancellor.
Reportedly the present mess- contractor had been blacklisted by ISM-Dhanbad,
were he has been serving.



Despite constant reminders made to the authorities, books (for library) have not
been procured for the ongoing semester and like every time flimsy grounds have
been cited for non-induction of the same. For example GST is a part of syllabus, but
books seems unlikely to be procured in the present semester. Moreover the reading
materials/ study materials/ compendiums have not been provided and when asked, the
teachers show a sorry face making an excuse of submitting the master copies of the
same before the vacations. Classes are running without study material. Entire
academic exercise is being treated lightly. Academics has taken a backseat.



The suspense about our future lies at stake with the university not clarifying
anything about its affiliation to the Bar Council of India, whether renewed or
not.

3

 

The university has fallen into the clutches of Dr.K Shyamala who takes undue
advantage of being the wife of Dr. MRS Murthy and keeps creating trouble and
intimidating students and faculty alike. She keeps spreading rumours about
faculties and administration to settle personal score. This has been witnessed by
most of the students. She has become an utter nuisance and a destabilising force in the
university. It has been a regular practice adopted by Dr.K Shyamala, who makes
fake promises to students and offers favours for personal benefits. This corrupts
the academic ambience of the university



The university made the students attend classes after the end semester examination to
set off their shortage of attendance in the form of remedial classes and firm
assurances were made by the Vice-Chancellor (In-charge), Controller of
examinations, that they would be allowed to appear in the repeat examinations
but their fate still hangs in balance because of administrative indifferences.



Despite not having the basic qualification to be VC and also being only an in-charge
Vice Chancellor, he has initiated appointment process for faculty (Assistant Professor/
Associate Professor/ Professors) on regular basis. Statute requires a regular Vice
Chancellor to be part of the selection committee. How can a person who is not
eligible to be vice-chancellor, head the selection committee? He cannot skip the
selection process either as that would be a violation of statute that mandates
presence of VC in the process. If he heads the selection committee, it would be
ultra vires the statute of the University. Only a regular Vice Chancellor can
make appointments as per the mandate of the Act governing the University. All
such appointments even if made shall be illegal, owing to procedural irregularity.
The appointment of a regular Vice-Chancellor, which was our foremost demand,
should have been the priority.



It also remains questionable whether an In-charge Vice Chancellor can legally
convene an Executive Council and Academic Council? Also, the prospective
candidates (existing faculty members) are part of these councils and shall decide
their own fates by playing a role in the constitution of selection committee. The
entire process seems to be a violation of the administrative law principle i.e Nemo
Judex In Causa Sua.



UGC norms strictly stipulate a consistent good academic track record for anyone who
is to be appointed as Assistant Professor in Law, however startlingly, Dr.MRS Murthy

4

 miserably falls short of the standards, which is evidently visible and can be
corroborated through the fact that he has been consistently non serious in his
academic pursuits throughout his career. Also, Dr.MRS Murthy has made wrong
statement as to his academic credentials in application form at the time of
applying in the university, which was completely ignored even after multiple
verifications at the time of joining the university and also during verification when
the contract is renewed at intervals. Dr Murthy has deliberately concealed his
marks /grade in the various courses he has pursued while applying to the
University for appointment and has randomly stated his division of marks
somewhere as IIIrd Division and somewhere as IInd Divison in his Board(Xth)
and LL.B respectively when he has also falsely stated that he has 50% marks in
both courses. He has no quality publication to his credit, besides some of the
publications he has even made is co authored with his wife Dr. Shyamala. Also,
seemingly during his LL.M course, the couple had consecutive roll numbers. It has
also been a talk of the town that the Ph.D Topic as well as Thesis are more or less
similar which seems to be a bizarre fact, given the lectures on Plagiarism given by the
couple to the students in the University. This reflects his unsuitability and lack of
competence to be in a National Law University.
DR. MRS Murthy Academic Record
Course



Year of Passing the Course

Xth

1987

XIIth

1990

B.Com

1993

LL.B

1999

LL.M

2003

Ph.D

2009

Ironically, a person (Dr. MRS Murthy) who lacks basic oral communication and
writing/drafting skills in English has been surprisingly entrusted with the key
positions of Assistant Registrar (In Charge), Controller of Examination along with the
chairmanship of so many committees and centres including the Committee for Journal
and Editorial Committee.

5

 

Anyone must not have abused the system more than Dr. MRS Murthy who
holds the position of the Controller of Examination/Asst. Registrar who
champions at making excuses when approached for any official matter and
enjoys throwing off the responsibilities on others, including students, for eg as
small as a matter of arrangement for bus, issues in the mess, the ever torturous
inadequate Wi Fi facility.



Dr Murthy in the smartest ways tries to skip his regular work load by blatantly
flouting the Examination Rules as given in the first Ordinance of the University
by taking five unwritten tests (Continuous Assessment Tests) in the subjects he
teaches. He has also innovated a regular way of fooling his pupils by engaging the
classes in form of class presentations done by students throughout the semesters and
by way of following this unprofessional technique to avoid delivering the lectures. He
awards marks for continuous assessment tests while holding such class presentations
in order to lure the students for marks. It is a regular practice adopted by the
couple to give attendances without engaging classes in Hons. Subjects and in post
graduate (LL.M) courses and also this entire bogus technique is camouflaged by
offering freebies in form of attendances and marks. This is how the students’
acquiescence is bargained.



While most of the Ph.D candidates are being victimised and harassed to the core,
other PhD candidates namely Tabassum Iqbal and Sujata Upadhayaya are given
preferential treatment unreasonably. Phd pre submission has been allowed
(conspired) under the guidance of couple (T. Iqbal and S. Upadhayaya) who never
reported for the progress of their thesis in the university despite which they were
given a chance to make their presentation by accorded personal favour to raise
personal API indexes of the couple. Also the Asst. registrar demanded a sum of
approx 3 lacs from the Phd candidates in addition to their regular Ph.D fees
which was already taken during the first two years of the course from the Ph.D
candidates /scholars and they were intimidated of their thesis neither been accepted
nor correction for the external evaluation without payment of such ransom. Whereas it
is noteworthy that such demand is in derogation with the fee structure of the
university apart from the accepted practices of other universities. Though the PhD.
thesis of Mr. Sumit Singh and Ramalingam Perumal after pre- submission have been

6

 duly accepted by the university, but has been long due not sent for external
evaluations for reasons best known to Dr Murthy.


Despite financial crunch, it is noteworthy to mention that certain faculty members
including Dr. MRS Murthy and Dr. K.Shaymala are drawing salaries in excess
and undeserving of their educational qualifications and the UGC pay scale
norms. Also, no parity has been maintained in terms of payment of salaries to the
teaching staff. Moreover, people having qualification of NET and PhD have been
appointed in derogation of the UGC norms despite having qualifications, which is an
obstacle in the way of the university getting a grant from UGC and also standing
strong for NAAC accreditation. On one hand, the university weeps over the issue
of lack of funds and refuses to cooperate in developmental activities of the
university, and on the other hand, the university freely and extravagantly
misuses the hard-earned money of the parents.



After the students’ protests, a number of promises were made by the current
administration, but unfortunately they turned out to be hollow promises. Hardly any
development is visible except for repetition of assurances and welcome/ celebration of
visit of some high court judges which seem to bear no fruit. It is clearly visible that
the administration has shifted to a group of four persons who have now become
the centre of power and de facto decision makers of every activity in the
University. No progress has been as regard Wi-Fi facility, construction of roads,
procurement of books in the library, study material for classes and so on. And,
all this is despite the fact that we are the highest paid NLU in India.





It was promised that all the demands of the students would be taken care of and
necessary steps would be taken to improve the infrastructure and basic facilities. The
protest was not only suspended when the authorities gave it to the student body in
writing with signature of officers of administration and high court. The students
made it very clear that they wanted immediate changes within 15 days and long
term changes within 3 months. If this does not go in hand, they would resume
their protests. However, it has been four months since students locked the university
and staged dharna for four days demanding administrative overhaul, removal of the
Vice-Chancellor, there is abject lack of basic facilities at the University.
As envisaged our protests had not ended but had only been suspended and which was
communicated to the Vice Chancellor (In-charge), we should be prepared for the
call to be made from our side given our all demands which have fallen flat on
deaf ears. Awake, arise and stop not till the goal is reached!!!

7

 DEMANDS:
1. Professor A K Kaul, the first Vice-Chancellor and the most dynamic torch-bearer
of the university who used to say always, “Never involve a non-academician in the
university especially judiciary and officers of the high court….” And, the
principle he invariably followed throughout his stay at the university. We are
unfortunately witnessing what he said seems to have become the reality. The first
demand that we made was replacement of the ineffective Vice-Chancellor with a
dynamic academician and vibrant person as the new and regular vice-chancellor
selected through the procedure laid down in the Act of the University. The demand
was compromised by imposing upon us an academically unfit and underqualified person as the Vice-Chancellor who lacks academic bent of mind and
with all due respect, he is unsuitable to understand the dynamics of a law
university. This has led to no progress in every respect. So, our first demand is
appointment of a regular Vice Chancellor. As enlisted above, he also lacks
qualification to be a faculty in a National Law University and to make appointments
given him being not qualified to be a part of the selection committee. All such
appointments shall be illegal leaving us to an even dismal condition.
2. Our demand administrative overhaul was compromised with administrative reshuffle
which is unacceptable. Demands can be met only when a regular Vice-Chancellor is
appointed through due process.
3. Immediate removal of Dr. MRS Murthy from the University and also from
positions of position of Assistant Registrar (In-charge)/ Controller of
examination and Dr K Shyamala from the positions in various committees and
centres to end the culture of favouritism and biases which has only worsened the
condition given his academic and administrative incompetence as stated above.
4. Given the discrepancy in verification of the documents of teachers, we demand
verification of academic credential of each and every faculty by a neutral and
competent authority. The Vice Chancellor (in charge) has ignored to take into
account the existing discrepancies which seem to be evident by the decision made by
him in appointments of administrative order.
5. Auditing of the accounts of the university should be done by CAG.
6. All the committees should be reconstituted immediately without adopting the
policy of personal preferences.
8