PERFORMANCE REPORT of the STUDENT JURIDICAL ASSOCIATION for AY 2016-17 & AY 2017-18 Eternal vigilance has proven to be the price of our liberty. ii Office-bearers Arjun Agarwal President (2016-18) Samarth Sharma Vice President (2016-18) Senu Nizar Treasurer (2016-18) Administrative Secretaries Adya Garg (2016-18) Gatha G Namboothiri (2017-18) The Student Juridical Association refers to the entire General Body of students, not just its officebearers. The General Body not only recognises its stake in what the office-bearers seek to achieve but has also exhibited its ability to add constructive input and aid the process of taking NUJS to greater heights. Paayas Pandit (2017-18) Shrikrishna Upadhyaya (2017-18) Shubhankar Jain (2016-17) Press Secretaries Aditya Kumar (2017-18) This report reflects the achievements of the NUJS General Body as a collective. It is envisioned to serve as a testament to our undying faith in the ideals of democracy, unity, fair opportunity and excellence. May our apolitical collective never lose its indomitable spirit, camaraderie and independence. Arindum Nayak (2016-18) h Mohit Rai (2017-18) Tanmai Shukla (2016-17) Urvi Pathak (2017-18) Student Juridical Association (2016-18) CONTENTS iii CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................................................................ V PREFATORY ................................................................................................................................................................. 1 PART A: ADMINISTRATIVE RINSE ................................................................................................................................ 2 1. DISMISSAL OF FORMER REGISTRAR, DR. SURAJIT C. MUKHOPADHYAY.............................................................................. 2 2. RESISTANCE TO BASIC DEMANDS ............................................................................................................................ 2 3. 52ND EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING ........................................................................................................................ 4 4. 53RD EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING/ FORMATION OF FIRST NUJS URC/ CANCELLATION OF FRAUDULENT CONTRACT WITH M/S CURTAIN CENTRE ......................................................................................................................................................... 5 5. INSTALLATION OF CCTVS IN CLASSROOMS ................................................................................................................ 5 6. FIRST VISIT BY THE URC ....................................................................................................................................... 5 7. TWO NEW BRANCHES OF NUJS ............................................................................................................................. 6 8. GAINING ACCESS TO THE URC REPORT/ SHUTDOWN OF CCTVS .................................................................................... 7 9. RESIGNATION OF FORMER VICE CHANCELLOR, PROF. (DR.) P. ISHWARA BHAT ................................................................. 15 10. 104TH FINANCE COMMITTEE (PROPOSED) MEETING .................................................................................................. 16 11. 60TH EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING ...................................................................................................................... 16 12. 32ND ACADEMIC COUNCIL MEETING/ INVESTIGATION ON DISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMMES RUN IN COLLABORATION WITH PRIVATE/ FOR-PROFIT THIRD-PARTY EDUCATORS .............................................................................................................. 17 13. 61ST EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING/ OUSTER OF DR. KHAN FROM REGISTRAR (ACTING) POSITION ....................................... 18 14. CAMPAIGN FOR GRANT OF INI STATUS TO NLUS...................................................................................................... 19 PART B: ACADEMIC REFORMS................................................................................................................................... 20 1. REFORMS IN ACADEMIC RULES ............................................................................................................................ 21 2. CREATION OF CREDIT COURSES CELL ..................................................................................................................... 23 PART C: LIBRARY ....................................................................................................................................................... 27 1. INVOLVEMENT OF STUDENTS ............................................................................................................................... 27 2. ADDITION OF ONLINE & REMOTE ACCESS RESOURCES ............................................................................................... 27 3. LIBRARY WEBSITE ............................................................................................................................................. 28 4. UPSC RESOURCES ............................................................................................................................................ 28 5. BOOK-BANK FACILITY ........................................................................................................................................ 28 PART D: INFRASTRUCTURE........................................................................................................................................ 29 1. CLASSROOMS .................................................................................................................................................. 29 2. MESS ............................................................................................................................................................ 29 3. ROOM NO. 107 ............................................................................................................................................... 29 Student Juridical Association (2016-18) CONTENTS iv 4. PROJECTOR IN THE AUDITORIUM .......................................................................................................................... 29 5. AUDITORIUM SOUND SYSTEM .............................................................................................................................. 30 6. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE ROAD INSIDE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS ...................................................................................... 30 7. CONSTRUCTION OF A CRICKET PITCH BEHIND BOYS’ HOSTEL ....................................................................................... 30 8. CREATION OF A PROPER DANCE ROOM .................................................................................................................. 30 9. EXECUTIVE WAITING AREA (ROOM NO. 103) ......................................................................................................... 30 10. GEYSERS......................................................................................................................................................... 30 11. MICROWAVES IN HOSTELS .................................................................................................................................. 30 12. RPC LOUNGE (ROOM NO. 108) AND SJA ROOM ..................................................................................................... 30 13. OVERHAUL OF DE-IRONING PLANT ........................................................................................................................ 31 14. ADDITION OF SENSORS TO HOSTEL LIFTS ................................................................................................................ 31 15. STORAGE ROOM FOR THE SPORTS’ COMMITTEE INVENTORY ........................................................................................ 31 16. MOSQUITO NETS ............................................................................................................................................. 31 17. REPAIR OF LIBRARY CHAIRS ................................................................................................................................. 31 PART E: FUNCTIONING OF THE SJA ........................................................................................................................... 32 1. TRANSPARENCY IN APPOINTMENT PROCESS ............................................................................................................ 32 2. NEW POSITIONS ............................................................................................................................................... 32 3. FUNDS ALLOCATION .......................................................................................................................................... 32 4. INCLUSION OF ADR SOCIETY WITHIN THE FOLD OF THE SJA ......................................................................................... 32 PART F: SJA BUDGET ................................................................................................................................................. 33 PART G: TRILATERAL ................................................................................................................................................. 33 PART H: DIRECT ELECTIONS FOR THE MESS COMMITTEE .......................................................................................... 33 PART I: REJUVENATION OF NATURE COMMITTEE ..................................................................................................... 33 1. TIE-UP WITH VITAL WASTE FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................. 33 2. PLANTATION DRIVE ........................................................................................................................................... 33 3. PROCUREMENT AND PLACEMENT OF NEW DUSTBINS................................................................................................. 33 PART J: PUBLIC RELATIONS ....................................................................................................................................... 34 1. OFFICIAL UNIVERSITY WEBSITE ............................................................................................................................ 34 2. SJA WEBSITE/ NUJS’ SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE ...................................................................................................... 34 3. SJA MOBILE APP.............................................................................................................................................. 35 4. ALMACONNECT................................................................................................................................................ 35 PART K: MISCELLANEOUS.......................................................................................................................................... 36 Student Juridical Association (2016-18) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS True to the law school tradition, the Student Juridical Association inherits a culture of the highest standards of argumentative rigour and a strongly deliberative environment. Every single student, including those with their dissents, has constructively contributed to the contents enlisted in this report. We will forever be grateful for the opportunity to represent one of the most active, aware and vibrant student collectives of this nation. We also take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to our Hon’ble Chancellors (Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Chief Justice (Retd.) J.S. Kehar, and Chief Justice (Retd.) T.S. Thakur); the Hon’ble General Council; the Hon’ble Executive Council; the Hon’ble Academic Council; the Hon’ble Finance Committee; the esteemed University Review Commission (2017); our faculty members and other employees of the University for hearing us out patiently and supporting our efforts of making NUJS a better place for everyone. Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PREFATORY 1 PREFATORY Our term in office had many firsts. The ones that we are particularly proud of are our unprecedented physical representations before the Hon’ble Executive Council, the constitution of the first-ever University Review Commission (URC), and a peaceful protest to affix liability for violation of our most basic rights. When we first took office, the Student Juridical Association (SJA) had already established itself as a strong accountability mechanism in an otherwise Kafkaesque administrative setup. In January 2014, the SJA uncovered a large-scale financial embezzlement scam in the University (Legally India reports here and here, and Bar and Bench). As a direct result of this expose, the then Registrar, Dr. Surajit C. Mukhopadhyay (Dr. Mukhopadhyay) was suspended from duty. When Dr. Mukhopadhyay challenged his suspension before the Hon’ble Calcutta High Court, the Court ordered a judicial probe under Justice (Retd.) P.N. Sinha into the veracity of student claims. In October 2015, Justice (Retd.) P.N. Sinha’s Inquiry Report confirmed the allegations made by the students. As a result, we had the benefit of having already experienced the painstakingly long-drawn and energy sapping process of pushing for greater accountability in the University first-hand. Over the past two years, we had multiple tussles with the administration arising out of follow-up action on the 2014 financial embezzlement fiasco and otherwise. Even while making reasoned demands for our most basic rights, we often found ourselves on a collision course with a covetous administration. Resultantly, the SJA got sucked into taking an active role in the overall administration of the University. The hard-fought efforts of our vibrant collective to overcome these challenges, have not only culminated in propelling a much-needed full-scale administrative rinse but also resulted in making our irrepressible collective to become fiercely protective of its apolitical and bohemian spirit. Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART A: ADMINISTRATIVE RINSE 2 PART A: ADMINISTRATIVE RINSE 1. Dismissal of former Registrar, Dr. Surajit C. Mukhopadhyay In the first week of our term, the Hon’ble Executive Council in its Extraordinary Meeting held on June 18, 2016 considered the dismissal of the then Registrar, Dr. Mukhopadhyay. Through our written representation (relying primarily on Justice (Retd.) P.N. Sinha’s Inquiry Report commissioned by the Hon’ble Calcutta High Court), we successfully demanded, among other things, the immediate removal of Dr. Mukhopadhyay from the position of Registrar. His dismissal was subsequently upheld by a Single Judge Bench of the Hon’ble Calcutta High Court (where it presently lies in appeal). 2. Resistance to Basic Demands In the first three months (following the dismissal of Dr. Mukhopadhyay), our most basic demands were met with stiff resistance by a conniving administration. Illustratively, these grievances included, but were not limited to: ▪ Inaction on Financial Embezzlement: Justice (Retd.) P.N. Sinha’s Inquiry Report clearly stated that the University’s 2013 contract with M/s Curtain Centre for, among other things, construction of Room No. 328 (amphitheatre) was rooted in corruption and financial embezzlement. The continuance of this contract, charged with inflating prices and providing sub-standard services, was undoubtedly detrimental to the interests of the University. However, when we requested the then Vice Chancellor, Prof. (Dr.) P. Ishwara Bhat (Prof. Bhat) and the then Registrar (Acting), Dr. Sarfaraz A. Khan (Dr. Khan) to cancel this contract, our request was summarily rejected. The purported reasoning for continuing the said contract was the threat of potential litigation by M/s Curtain Centre and the costs consequent to such litigation. Similarly, a plea to initiate disciplinary action against employees who were clearly identified as Dr. Mukhopadhyay’s accomplices in the Inquiry Report was ignored by the administration then and throughout its shameful tenure. No penal action was initiated against Dr. Mukhopadhyay or any other employee either. ▪ Unclaimed Grant: The University Grants Commission (UGC) had allocated funds of about Rs. 9 crores to NUJS under the XIIth Five Year Plan (2012-17). The large-scale financial mismanagement orchestrated by Dr. Mukhopadhyay resulted in non-submission of utilisation certificates of the already claimed sum to the UGC. Repeated requests for claim of Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART A: ADMINISTRATIVE RINSE 3 the remaining Rs. 7.37 crores of this grant (due to lapse on March 31, 2017), were met with utmost contempt and our collective’s efforts were termed as “far exceeding its mandate”. ▪ Unexplainable Delay in Formation of Statutorily Mandated University Review Commission: Under Section 14(1) of the NUJS Act, 1999, a University Review Commission (URC) is mandated to review the overall working of the University administratively, financially and academically every five years. The past 3 SJAs (2013-16) had been pushing for the constitution of the statutory URC – the earliest available representation to the then Chancellor, Hon’ble Chief Justice (Retd.) P. Sathasivam in this regard is dated February 2, 2014. A similar campaign was initiated by our alumni as well around that time (the Times of India, and Legally India). Notwithstanding a verbal promise in the General Body meeting held on January 14, 2014, Prof. Bhat made no efforts to get the then twelve years overdue (as of 2016) URC constituted. ▪ Failure to Honour the Promise of Implementing Transparency Norms: In the General Body meeting held on January 14, 2014, Prof. Bhat had promised, among other things: (a) to give immediate effect to transparency norms including the timely circulation of minutes and agendas of all administrative and academic committee meetings including, but not limited to, the Hon’ble Executive Council, the Hon’ble Financial Committee, the Hon’ble Academic Council, the Under Graduate Council and Faculty Meetings, among all members of the administration and the student body; (b) student participation in all administrative and academic committee meetings including, but not limited to, the Hon’ble Executive Council, the Hon’ble Financial Committee, the Hon’ble Academic Council, the Under Graduate Council and Faculty Meetings to be effective immediately (in accordance with Paragraph 7 of the UGC’s Guidelines for Students’ Entitlement, 2013); and (c) to publish before March 1, 2014 all statutorily mandated public documents, under Section 4(1)(b) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) on the University website including, but not limited to, the powers, functions and membership of all administrative and academic committees. Quite unfortunately, these promises were never fulfilled. Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART A: ADMINISTRATIVE RINSE ▪ 4 Evasiveness to Right to Information Applications: To overcome the consequences of the aforesaid betrayal, we filed Right to Information (RTI) applications seeking basic information which must anyway mandatorily be in the public domain as per Section 4(1)(b) of the RTI Act, 2005. The administration adept at doublespeak never made the information sought available. The said applications and the SJA’s correspondence with Dr. Khan are accessible here. ▪ Grave Concerns Regarding Academic Administration: Multiple grave concerns regarding administration of academics, including, but not limited to, record low facultystudent ratio, absence of basic transparency norms in Academic and Examination Rules, 2012 (Academic Rules), and absence of research output were never taken seriously by the administration (discussed in greater detail in NUJS SJA’s Report No. 1 of 2016). Disappointed by the indifference and false promises, we invited Prof. Bhat and Dr. Khan for a meeting with the General Body. In this General Body meeting (held on September 21, 2016), the students questioned them regarding a range of critical administrative and academic issues (including the aforesaid grievances). As the minutes of the said meeting reflect, not only were their responses entirely unsatisfactory and highly evasive but also unbecoming of heads of a premier law school such as ours. 3. 52nd Executive Council Meeting The next morning (September 22, 2016), we learnt that shortly after the said meeting, Prof. Bhat had circulated the Agenda of the upcoming 52 nd Executive Council Meeting (held on September 24, 2016), which included the question on his extension. Based on the problems highlighted in the General Body meeting (held on September 21, 2016), the SJA quickly compiled a detailed report (NUJS SJA’s Report No. 1 of 2016) on the unsatisfactory state of administrative and academic affairs at the University. A General Body Resolution (circulated the on the morning of September 23, 2016) adopting this report and expressing a loss of confidence in Prof. Bhat’s leadership was signed by over 470 students within a few hours of circulation (Legally India). Later that day, the said Resolution and this report were presented to a few Executive Council members, including the then Advocate General, Mr. Jayant Mitra. As mentioned earlier, this Meeting was held on September 24, 2016. Despite our best efforts, including the demand for the constitution of the then twelve years overdue URC and consideration of such URC’s report before Prof. Bhat was granted an extension, the Hon’ble Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART A: ADMINISTRATIVE RINSE 5 Executive Council granted him an extension of five years (minutes of the Meeting) !!! However, supported by certain members of the Hon’ble Executive Council, we were allowed an unprecedented physical representation before the 53 rd Executive Council (held on November 12, 2016 during the 12th Annual Convocation). On September 23, 2016 (a day before the Meeting), Prof. Bhat had also slipped in a last-minute proposal to double student intake and set up two new branches of the University as this Meeting’s Additional Agenda (Legally India). 4. 53rd Executive Council Meeting/ Formation of First NUJS URC/ Cancellation of Fraudulent Contract with M/s Curtain Centre This Meeting was held on November 12, 2016. In SJA’s first-ever physical representation before the Hon’ble Council, we briefly reiterated the points raised in our report (NUJS SJA’s Report No. 1 of 2016). This representation, in addition to a meeting with the then Chancellor, Chief Justice (Retd.) T.S. Thakur on the following day, resulted in the formation of our first-ever URC (Legally India). Additionally, in light of our representation, the Hon’ble Council also resolved to cancel the fraudulent contract with M/s Curtain Centre and blacklist them from bidding any further to the University’s tenders (minutes of the Meeting). 5. Installation of CCTVs in Classrooms Towards the end of Academic Year 2016-17, Prof. Bhat effected a sudden administrative decision to install two CCTVs each in every classroom in the University (Legally India). As our subsequent representation against this undemocratic, unilateral and ill-conceived action argues, the SJA firmly believed that this decision, among other things, raised serious privacy concerns, diluted classroom atmosphere, and had immense potential of misuse and abuse (the Telegraph, and Legally India). However, there was no effective redressal of our grievances by the administration. 6. First Visit by the URC On grounds of certain unconvincing procedural irregularities, the URC visited NUJS only in September 2017. The esteemed members of this URC were: Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART A: ADMINISTRATIVE RINSE 6 (a) Prof. G. Mohan Gopal (Chairperson), Former Director of National Judicial Academy, Bhopal, and National Law School of India University, Bengaluru; (b) Prof. (Dr.) Faizan Mustafa (Member), Vice Chancellor, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, Telengana; and (c) Prof. Lalit Mangotra (Member), former Head of Physics Department and Dean, Faculty of Sciences, University of Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir. A few months into our second term then; during our first meeting with the URC (on September 18, 2017), we made a written and a ninety-minute physical representation before it on behalf of the entire student body. Our written representation was accompanied by a fresh no-confidence Resolution of the General Body, including, but not limited to, the administrative and academic discontents cited by its previous edition (Legally India). Apart from this initial representation, the office-bearers had a follow-up meeting with the URC which highlighted remaining concerns and provided rebuttals to the administration’s responses to our concern regarding inaction on Justice (Retd.) P.N. Sinha’s Inquiry Report. Pursuant to the SJA office-bearers flagging concerns on gender issues in their initial meeting with the URC, a large representative delegation of female students was separately welcomed by the URC. They highlighted concerns specifically pertaining to the residents of the Girls’ Hostel and other gender issues (in line with an earlier petition to Prof. Bhat). On similar lines, reserved category students met the URC in yet another separate meeting. 7. Two New Branches of NUJS As mentioned earlier, the proposal to open two branches of NUJS in Asansol and Siliguri was placed as a last-minute Additional Agenda before the 52nd Executive Council on September 24, 2016 (minutes of the Meeting, and Legally India). A written representation by the SJA opposing this proposal and highlighting the repercussions of the ill-conceived idea culminated in the rejection of this proposal by the Hon’ble Executive Council in its 57th Meeting held on November 11, 2017 (minutes of the Meeting, and Legally India). Subsequently, we discovered that the proposal had received critical views from the URC as well (URC, p. 41). Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART A: ADMINISTRATIVE RINSE 7 8. Gaining Access to the URC Report/ Shutdown of CCTVs The URC had submitted its report on October 30, 2017. Prof. Bhat received a letter (dated November 29, 2017) from the Secretary General, Supreme Court of India on behalf of the Chancellor, Hon’ble Chief Justice Dipak Misra seeking Prof. Bhat’s responses on URC’s recommendations. Unfortunately, Prof. Bhat never uttered a word about being in receipt of this report despite being regularly queried by us. He responded to the aforesaid letter on December 21, 2017. Apprehending suppression, we filed an RTI to the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India’s Chief Public Information Officer on January 4, 2018. At the time, the URC’s report had been with Prof. Bhat for well over a month. Resultantly, the RTI was transferred to the Public Information Officer, NUJS on January 23, 2018. Prof. Bhat, who was the only officer of the University (officially) in possession of the report, attempted to bury it. Prof. Bhat only provided a response to the said RTI on being called out for burying the report by Legally India. However, the response to our RTI dated February 24, 2018 read that URC’s report will only be made public after its presentation before the Hon’ble Executive Council on April 7, 2018 – when there is no exception justifying the same under RTI Act. When SJA office-bearers approached Prof. Bhat in his chamber for the report on the evening of March 24, 2018, he responded that he has not caused any delay in making the report available to the students and that the Chancellor, Hon’ble Chief Justice Dipak Misra had himself instructed Prof. Bhat to place it before the Hon’ble Executive Council. When we responded by inquiring Prof. Bhat about evidence of any communication from Hon'ble Chancellor disallowing the provision of the report to the students before its presentation to the Hon’ble Executive Council, or alternatively, any legal or moral justification for the delay in such provision, Prof. Bhat claimed that the report was first made available to him only in the first week of February 2018. On account of Prof. Bhat’s, Dr. Khan’s, and Prof. Sandeepa Bhat’s own inability to justify the non-publication of report for another hour, Prof. Bhat finally agreed to provide us with a copy on an appeal application filed to the earlier RTI response dated February 24, 2018. While handing over a copy of the report to us, Prof. Bhat claimed that he had received the report only in the second week of December 2017. Only when we finally received the report and his response, did we notice that the aforesaid letter from Secretary General, Supreme Court of India (dated November 29, 2017) along with a copy of the report was received by him months back. Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART A: ADMINISTRATIVE RINSE 8 On finally gaining access to URC’s report, we discovered that it accepted almost all our grievances against Prof. Bhat’s administration in toto (primarily in URC, pp. 40-42). Additionally, concerns specifically pertaining to installation of CCTVs in classrooms had also been brought to the attention of the URC. Immediately after gaining access to its report, we discovered that it had concurred with our grievances in this regard as well (URC, p. 42). These observations facilitated the immediate and permanent shutdown of CCTVs installed in classrooms (the Telegraph, and Legally India). It is a testament to half a decade of our struggle that gaining access to the first-ever, statutorily mandated review of a public university was considered a success in itself. Acknowledging SJA’s efforts towards institution strengthening, our years of struggle, and the overall genuineness of and merit in our grievances, the URC had noted (URC, pp. 11, 25-27, 50): 28. The exceptional student body of NUJS, the Student Juridical Association (SJA) is another feather in the cap of NUJS. The excellent website of NUJS's Student Juridical Association (SJA) (sja.nujs.edu) describes itself as "the organization of students to promote co-curricular and extra-curricular activities." It goes on to say, "The NUJS student body happens to be one of the most active, aware and vibrant student collectives among all Indian law schools (emphasis added). The SJA contributes to this vibrancy by enabling students to explore crucial issues confronting the student life as well as the legal profession, while at the same time enabling students to take advantage of the excellent opportunities that NUJS offers inside and beyond its campus. In addition, being a part of SJA is also a chance for students to engage in leadership roles by representing the interests of their fellow students before the administration. Engaging in active debates and dialogue develops a strong sense of empathy and understanding among everyone to stand up for each other's rights and creates a better society." 29. The Commission agrees with this self-assessment of the SJA. We feel proud of the NUJS Law Review which is a product of the student body and also of the initiative they take in initiating short courses, lectures and speeches to expand their knowledge and understanding. The Commission also expresses our appreciation for the enormous effort made by SJA to organize the views presented to the Commission on behalf of students in a representative and systematic manner, and for the high quality of its meticulous presentation. Many points raised by the students are very substantive and meritorious and, wherever feasible, should be accepted and acted upon by the University. Our interaction with the SJA confirms that one of the great achievements of NUJS has been the building up of a student culture of active engagement with community issues – a rarity today even in globally ranked institutions. This should be preserved and strengthened. Notwithstanding NUJS's institutional ranking, many consider the student body of NUJS as the best amongst the national law schools in the country. … Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART A: ADMINISTRATIVE RINSE 9 72. We are deeply concerned to receive the statement presented to the Commission, signed by over 500 students, conveying "utter dissatisfaction and complete loss of faith in the leadership of the Vice Chancellor with respect to these concerns, i.e., specific concerns identified by them4". This statement backed by detailed arguments, and their concern must be taken with utmost seriousness by NUJS. A University is a community. No University can function without mutual trust and confidence amongst the student body, the faculty and the administration. The issues the students raise are all in the best interests of the University. They are resolvable through reasoned dialogue and appropriate action. With the greatest respect we would suggest that the Vice Chancellor be requested to urgently take all necessary action to restore the confidence and trust of the student body by addressing their legitimate concerns as early as possible. 1 We are deeply saddened to read the following statement in the student submission that is addressed not only to NUJS but to NLUs in general: "Administrations of NLUs have subjected students to increasingly stringent rules and regulations while simultaneously reducing facilities available to them. It appears that funds are unavailable for trivial demands such as clean wash rooms while expensive cameras are installed around the campus encroaching on our privacy. Prof Madhava Menon established these institutes to improve legal education and nurture a generation of “social engineers”. Yet, the continuous fights for basic survival and a right to decent education may leave us too drained and disillusioned to be of any use to the society." The students are right. This is a wake-up call to each of us involved with legal education. … 79. We have reservations about a University being described as a "student run" University by SJA, especially when the vast majority of students are undergraduates between 17 years to 22/23 years of age and have not acquired the experience or knowledge necessary to run a University. There is no precedent of a University anywhere in the world being "student run". The University must be run by its officers and its faculty under the law. However, we do believe that students, as the most numerous stakeholders, must have a strong democratic voice and a due role in the administration of the University. This would be in the best interests of the University. Students may be given responsibility commensurate with their experience and knowledge, and to the extent it would be safe to impose on them the potential serious liability (including to imprisonment) that necessarily goes with administrative responsibility. In line with this reasoning, we would suggest that the elected President of SJA be made a non-voting invitee to the General Council of the University so that student concerns may be directly raised in the GC. This may “4 The concerns listed by the students are: (i) lack of transparency regarding the meetings of University bodies and non-responsiveness to their RTI queries; (ii) falling academic quality in teaching and research including the failure to make necessary amendments to academic and examination regulations; (iii) serious shortcomings on infrastructure, health and hygiene; (iv) inaction on recommendations made by the Justice Sinha report; (v) retributive action to curb student liberties; and (v) proposal to increase intake of students.” Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART A: ADMINISTRATIVE RINSE 10 avoid future situations such as the one in which the University finds itself, in which the student body reaches a point of completely losing trust in the administration. In light of our initial and follow-up representations, the URC, among many others, made the following recommendations on the administrative front (URC, pp. 46-49): Part 5: Summary of Recommendations Submitted to the Hon'ble Chancellor This Report contains several specific recommendations emerging from our deliberations. Some of the main recommendations of the Report are compiled below for convenience: Address Current Management Crisis 1. EC should immediately appoint a committee of one EC member and one outside expert based in Kolkata to review the current management crisis and advice and assist the administration about management steps that should be taken immediately to address the crisis. A specific time bound action plan should be developed and monitored by EC. Chancellor should be informed about such action. Urgently Fill Critical Leadership Positions 2. The Registrar's post should be advertised immediately and filled promptly by an experienced administrator who will be able to handle the crisis facing the University. 3. The Accounts Officers' post and all other vacant posts should be advertised immediately and filled promptly. EC should monitor the recruitment through the committee suggested above. 4. In view of the acute shortage of suitable candidates and the cumbersome and lengthy procedure involved, and as the current VC has only about two years left in office, EC should act well in advance to find a suitable successor when he demits office. To this end, EC may establish a search committee to begin the process, giving enough time for the transition. The new VC should have wide exposure and experience both academic and administrative and strong leadership qualities. Temporary Reduction of Student Intake to Ease Acute Overcrowding 5. The NUJS infrastructure was meant for about 80-85 students per year and a total student size of 504 which is the capacity of the hostels. This has now been raised to about 127 students per year and a total capacity of 767. This is an unbearable load. Until infrastructure and faculty capacity is increased as required for a community of 767, there should be a temporary reduction of intake in the LL.B. by 22 seats to 105 starting in 2018 (temporary halt to admission of 19 NRI sponsored seats and 3 foreign national seats. There will no reduction of other seats). This will bring some immediate relief to the pressure. Quality will improve. The measures will be seen as an indication of NUJS's priority to quality. Meanwhile steps can be taken to expand infrastructure and faculty resources and the intake can be increased once requisite facilities and resources are in place. This decision can be accommodated within the financial resources now available to the University. Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART A: ADMINISTRATIVE RINSE 11 … Enhance Faculty Strength to 80, Improve Student-Teacher Ratio 7. We recommend that a plan be developed urgently to increase the NUJS faculty size to a strength of at least 80, appropriately distributed between various levels of seniority as needed for teaching and research. The faculty requirement should be drawn up based on training and research strategies to be drawn up by the Teaching Dean and a Dean be in charge of Strategy and Planning. … Strengthen Academic Administration 9. We suggest that a new position of Dean (Teaching) be created with the sole responsibility to define, measure and enhance the quality of teaching for LLB. and LL. M. students as well as to ensure that the teaching programme is organized rationally, using a wide range of pedagogical approaches. We would also suggest that a position of Dean (Research) also be created with responsibility to prepare and implement a strategy for enhancing the quality and programmes of research including creating and implementing research partnerships. We also recommend that one of these Deans be given responsibility for Strategy and Planning. These Deans should report directly to the EC and have necessary independence to function effectively. The Deans should conduct regular seminars for faculty and students on defining, measuring and delivering quality of teaching and research and keep up with national and global debates on the subject. 10. We suggest that a full-time position of a Dean of Student Welfare be appointed to be responsible to address the large number of genuine problems and difficulties faced by students, which an over-stretched administration is unable to address promptly. 11. Urgent, strong systemic action is required to establish a rational system of administration of academic programmes. We propose the establishment of a full-fledged, dedicated Division/Department for Administration of Academic Programmes to be headed by a domain expert assisted by adequate staff. This Division/Department should include an Examination Department. The Division/Department should be mandated to review existing policies and rules and rationalize them, and to propose new rules where needed. In particular, the system of excessive examinations should be ended. Decisions should be made in a fair and transparent manner and applied to everyone equally. Staff should ensure that higher authorities' decisions in explicit disregard or violation of established rules should not be implemented, and the matter should be raised with VC and/or EC. Everyone should feel responsible to respect the rule of law. The Division/Department should pay special attention to data, record keeping and archiving so that analytics could be generated about the academic programme that may be useful for strategic thinking. … Strengthen Grievance Redress 15. We recommend that an independent Ombudsman be appointed by the EC for the University, reporting directly to the EC, to ensure that grievances are attended to Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART A: ADMINISTRATIVE RINSE 12 promptly and fairly. The appointment of an Ombudsman is in any case required by UGC Regulations as well. Make Selection Processes Objective and Independent 17. We recommend that the selection process for faculty be considerably revised and strengthened. The selection committee should have independent subject matter experts rather than be chosen based on the basis of position alone (e.g., VCs). Criteria and processes for selection should be clear. In selection, greater weight should be given to expanding diversity - gender as well as social and regional background so as to reinforce the national character of this State institution. … Establish separate personnel policies for faculty of National Law Schools 19. We would also recommend that the salaries and benefits package of faculty be reviewed in particular to ensure that an appropriate pension scheme is made available for them. National Law Schools should have their own pay scales based on other institutions of excellence such as IITs and IIMs instead of following UGC scales. … Reducing the Dependence on Fees to Finance Revenues; Reduce Fees 21. The first three annual reports of NUJS had indicated that some 50%-60% of NUJS's revenues will be met by fees and the balance will be raised through research projects, consultancies and training. This approach would open opportunities for faculty and students to engage in research and stay engaged with current legal needs of society. NUJS has not followed this approach. Today, some 153% of NUJS's expenditures are financed through fees (NUJS annual expenditures are about Rs. 12 crores. Fee income is about Rs. 15 crores). NUJS fees are said to be on the high side even by national law school standards, higher than NLSIU Bangalore and NALSAR Hyderabad. This has had the bad effect of relieving the faculty of responsibility to engage in research to support the revenue needs of the University. In turn, the University's research work has dwindled and all but two research centres have become moribund. This dangerous dependence on fees also reduces access of middle class children to education at NUJS. The EC should restore the policy that no more than 60% of fees should be raised through fees and ask faculty to raise remaining resources through research projects, consultancies and training. Meanwhile, the EC may also consider lowering NUJS fees to bring it in line with NLSIU and NALSAR fees. Strengthen Student Voice 23. The elected President of SJA may be made a non-voting invitee to the General Council of the University so that student concerns may be directly raised in the GC. This may avoid future situations such as the one in which the University finds itself, in in which the student body reaches a point of completely losing trust in the administration. … Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART A: ADMINISTRATIVE RINSE 13 Strengthen Strategic Planning 25. The EC may be asked to develop and approve a 10-year vision document for NUJS and an action plan to implement it. … Strengthen Career Placement Services 27. We recommend that a full-fledged career and placement office be created to assist students with internships as well as job searches. As indicated by our earlier discussion about the rapidly changing global ecosystem, it is entirely possible that the global economic down turn may result in increasing difficulty, at least in the medium term, for some students to find jobs which they may need to pay off their student debt. Students should receive appropriate help in this regard. This office can work closely with students who are currently organizing placements. … The Chancellor, Hon’ble Chief Justice Dipak Misra (vide a letter dated January 27, 2018) instructed Prof. Bhat to place the aforesaid recommendations before appropriate statutory and other University bodies for necessary action. Specifically based on representation by the representatives of female students (in line with an earlier petition to Prof. Bhat) and the representatives of reserved category students, the URC noted (URC, pp. 44-45): (E) Suggestions on Special Issues Below are some actions on special issues that require the oversight and attention of the EC. Gender Issues ➢ Women's safety on campus - security guards should be properly trained, and adequate lighting should be put in place. ➢ Moral policing by security guards should be prohibited. ➢ Guards should not have access to CCTV footage -- students should be involved in preparing guidelines on CCTV. ➢ Sexual Harassment ICC should be sensitized, trained and made more effective. They should promptly attend to and dispose of pending cases before them. All necessary support should be provided to complainants. ➢ Maintenance of women's hostel should be improved, and issues addressed. ➢ 24/7 support should be provided for utilities. ➢ Access of male maintenance staff without prior notice should be prohibited. ➢ Adequate access should be ensured to counsellors. Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART A: ADMINISTRATIVE RINSE 14 ➢ The fall in the number of women students (discussed earlier) should be corrected. ➢ Lack of common space in the women's hostel and lack of access of women to recreational facilities should be addressed. ➢ Insensitivity to women returning to campus should be strictly avoided. ➢ Gender sensitisation of guards and wardens should be carried out. ➢ A medical clinic should be established on campus with a nurse 24/7 and a doctor visiting. ➢ There should be no differential curfews, exceptions to curfew should be permitted for emergencies. ➢ Alarm/panic buttons should be provided. ➢ Adequate representation of women should be provided in University bodies. ➢ Creches should be established. LGBT ➢ There should be strong sensitization programmes on LGBT issues. ➢ No derogatory remarks should be tolerated. ➢ There should be no harassment in hostels or in class. ➢ Transpolicy should be implemented. ➢ ICC should be proactive on LGBT issues. … SC/ST / OBC students ➢ Hostel allotments should not be according admissions test ranks for girls or for boys to avoid inadvertent discrimination. ➢ A Systematic Academic Support Programme should be established for students who face the challenge of transition in the medium of instruction and on academic and pedagogical approaches. … While we had subsequently pushed for implementation of some of the aforesaid recommendations before the 61st Executive Council Meeting (through our written representation), the discussion on the same was unfortunately deferred due to logistical difficulties. However, in the said Meeting, the Hon’ble Council instructed the administration to take necessary steps and present a progress report to the relevant University bodies (minutes Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART A: ADMINISTRATIVE RINSE 15 of the Meeting). We trust the future office-bearers to push for the swift implementation of the aforesaid recommendations. 9. Resignation of former Vice Chancellor, Prof. (Dr.) P. Ishwara Bhat Disillusioned by Prof. Bhat’s attempt to bury the URC until March 24, 2018; disheartened by the overarching observations of the URC; and having exhausted all other institutional remedies to fix accountability for large scale administrative failure, an overwhelming majority of the General Body (in its meeting held on March 25, 2018) resolved to ensure the appointment of a competent and suitable Vice Chancellor. As a result, at 9 AM on March 26, we served a two-day public notice to Prof. Bhat demanding his immediate resignation on grounds of his proven incapacity and moral culpability for his colossal failure as the head of our beloved University (Legally India, Live Law, and Bar and Bench). As anticipated in the said notice itself, Prof. Bhat failed to duly respond to the demand of resignation by the stipulated deadline. Starting 10 AM on March 28, we started off our peaceful and non-obstructionist protest at the University entrance. As multiple news reports confirm, at no point did we compromise on our academic integrity or obstruct any faculty or staff member’s right to work (the Statesman, and the Quint). A few hours into the protest, Prof. Bhat communicated through certain faculty members (Dr. Khan, Prof. Anirban Mazumdar and Mr. Saurabh Bhattacharjee) that he had decided to tender his resignation. He invited three students to his official residence along with the aforesaid faculty members. At his residence, he gave us his resignation (the Indian Express, the Telegraph, Legally India, Live Law, Bar and Bench, and Lawlex). However, the resignation was not effective from the same day (March 28), but from April 7, 2018. To counter the natural apprehension of yet another betrayal given our past experience, Prof. Bhat gave us a “gentleman’s word” to not continue beyond April 7, 2018 in any capacity (as the interim/Acting Vice Chancellor) for any reason whatsoever. Taking Prof. Bhat’s word in good faith, we (the students) mutually agreed to facilitate a dignified exit for Prof. Bhat, and to that end, we immediately and completely retracted every single poster in the University premises and completely called off the protest (Facebook video). Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART A: ADMINISTRATIVE RINSE 10. 16 104th Finance Committee (proposed) Meeting While Prof. Bhat resigned on March 28, 2018, he and the then Registrar (Acting), Dr. Khan made a determined push to hold a Finance Committee meeting before April 7, 2018 – when Prof. Bhat’s resignation was to take effect. Curiously, despite repeated requests against it, major decisions such as approval of a proposed 18-storied building’s final plan; renewal of lease for Corporation Bank; and procurement of an SUV vehicle for the Vice Chancellor were being muscled into the Agenda of this (proposed) Meeting by Prof. Bhat and Dr. Khan (Legally India). While Prof. Bhat and Dr. Khan attempted to hold the (proposed) Meeting at least on four separate occasions, through our written representation, we successfully ensured that the proposed meeting was deferred till the appointment of an Acting Vice Chancellor. 11. 60th Executive Council Meeting On March 27, 2018, we had written to the Hon’ble Council demanding immediate dismissal of Prof. Bhat on grounds of professional misconduct, moral culpability and proven incapacity. As mentioned earlier, Prof. Bhat tendered a post-dated resignation on March 28, 2018. Having completely called off the protest in good faith, we learnt in the run up to the 60 th Executive Council Meeting (held on April 7, 2018) that Prof. Bhat and his allies within and outside the University had made concerted efforts to discredit our entire student body as one driven by ulterior agendas – labelling us as uncivilised, obstructionist, uncouth, immoral and what-not. It now appears that this was a last-ditch attempt by Prof. Bhat to cling on to the position of Vice Chancellor at our University and the post-dated resignation was merely a ruse to buy time. The same is unequivocally confirmed on a perusal of his note tabled before the Hon’ble Council. Aghast and betrayed, the SJA put up another representation before the Hon’ble Executive Council exposing the shameful antics employed by Prof. Bhat. In addition, the said representation argued that Dr. Khan’s continued appointment as Registrar (Acting) for almost 21 months was not only questionable but likely illegal. Briefly put, the said representation elucidated upon the implicit limitations on the Vice Chancellor’s power to appoint a Registrar in emergency situations (Clause 20(4) read with Clause 18(5) of the Schedule to the NUJS Act, 1999) and how the circumstances surrounding Dr. Khan’s continued appointment clearly Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART A: ADMINISTRATIVE RINSE 17 established an abuse of Vice Chancellor’s aforesaid power by Prof. Bhat. Having patiently heard us out verbally during the Meeting, the Hon’ble Council demanded a list of faculty members and corresponding details regarding their respective seniority with a view to replace Dr. Khan (minutes of the Meeting). Lastly, an alumnus from the 2016 Batch of NUJS had approached us a day before this Meeting after Prof. Bhat and his administration refused to rectify its own administrative blunder which had already deprived the said alumnus of her degree for over 18 months. The SJA implored the Hon’ble Council to hear directly from the said alumnus. Consequently, a personal hearing was afforded to her by the Hon’ble Council, and specific instructions were given to the University administration for placing the matter before the next Academic Council meeting. 12. 32nd Academic Council Meeting/ Investigation on Distance Education Programmes Run in Collaboration with Private/ For-Profit Third-Party Educators This Meeting was held on May 10, 2018. Through its written and verbal representation, the SJA fought off audacious attempts by those at fault to deliberately supress full facts of the matter. As a result, the Hon’ble Council resolved to not only expedite the process of making the said alumnus’ degree available to her, but also instituted an inquiry to affix liability on those responsible for the blunder (minutes of the Meeting). In this representation, we also made out a detailed case against numerous questionable collaborations with several private/ for-profit third-party educators for various online/ distance learning courses. Briefly put, we argued that such collaborations were, among several other things, (a) against the law of the land as laid down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India; (b) hit by numerous violations of the UGC Act, 1956 and the UGC (Open and Distance Learning) Regulations, 2017 formulated thereunder; (c) causing severe reputational loss to the University because of their sub-standard quality; (d) questionably negotiated on behalf of the University by certain faculty members; and (e) effected via a concerted effort on part of the said employees to keep the Hon’ble Executive Council and the Hon’ble Academic Council in dark. Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART A: ADMINISTRATIVE RINSE 18 Based on our representation, the Hon’ble Council put all such courses on hold (status quo) pending further review. The recent approval of UGC (Online Courses) Regulations, 2018 further vindicates our stance (Legally India). 13. 61st Executive Council Meeting/ Ouster of Dr. Khan from Registrar (Acting) Position This Meeting was held on May 12, 2018. Apart from apprising the Hon’ble Council of the aforesaid illegalities in continuance of online/ distance learning courses, the SJA (in its written and verbal representation) raised serious concerns, including, but not limited to: (a) multiple violations of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010; (b) continued inaction on Justice (Retd.) P.N. Sinha’s Inquiry Report commissioned by the Hon’ble Calcutta High Court; and (c) curious inaction on part of certain University employees and their apparent complicity with respect to questionable actions of Prof. Bhat’s administration including, but not limited to, the issues mentioned above. As a result, the Hon’ble Council appointed the then Registrar General of the Hon’ble Calcutta High Court, Ms. Madhumati Mirtra as the Registrar (Acting) instead of Dr. Khan or any internal faculty member; and set up a two-member fact finding committee to investigate the illegalities and irregularities raised by us. This committee comprises (minutes of the Meeting): (a) Justice (Retd.) Amit Talukdar, Vice Chancellor (Acting); and (b) Mr. Kishore Dutta, Advocate General of West Bengal. Separately, the Hon’ble Council set up another four-member committee to inquire into the allegations against Prof. Bhat comprising: (a) Justice (Retd.) Amit Talukdar, Vice Chancellor (Acting); (b) Justice (Retd.) Ashim Kumar Roy; (c) Mr. Kishore Dutta, Advocate General of West Bengal; and (d) Mr. Bibek Chaudhuri, Secretary to the Government of West Bengal (Judicial Department). Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART A: ADMINISTRATIVE RINSE 19 Organically (not addressed in our representation), the Hon’ble Council constituted yet another three-member committee into certain serious allegations related to the working of UNICEF-funded Centre for Child Rights, and generally review the functioning of other Centres/Projects. The said committee comprises: (a) Mr. Bharatendu Nath Srivastava, Director-in-charge of IIM-Calcutta; (b) Mr. Jishnu Saha, Senior Advocate, Calcutta High Court and NUJS Treasurer; and (c) Ms. Madhumati Mitra, Registrar (Acting) and the then Registrar General of the Hon’ble Calcutta High Court. 14. Campaign for Grant of INI Status to NLUs Apart from the aforesaid efforts to infuse greater transparency into University processes, the SJA along with the Student Bar Association of NLSIU (SBA), and the Student Bar Council of NALSAR (SBC) spearheaded the demand for grant of Institutes of National Importance (INI) status to National Law Universities (NLUs) by way of a first-of-its-kind joint manifesto in April 2017 (the Times of India, and Legally India). Per this manifesto, grant of INI status to NLUs can substantially resolve long standing monetary woes, lead to standardisation of academic standards and enable greater scrutiny of administrative actions within NLUs’ present setup. Led by the SJA, the SBA, and the SBC, a formal signature campaign for the same was launched in November 2017 (the Indian Jurist, and Legally India). The campaign garnered media coverage as well as support from eminent persons on social media, and received over 1800 signatures within a week of its launch. Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART B: ACADEMIC REFORMS 20 PART B: ACADEMIC REFORMS In light of our initial representation presented to the URC, it made the following recommendations (specifically) on the academic reforms’ front (URC, pp. 46-51): Part 5: Summary of Recommendations Submitted to the Hon'ble Chancellor This Report contains several specific recommendations emerging from our deliberations. Some of the main recommendations of the Report are compiled below for convenience: … Enhance Faculty Strength to 80, Improve Student-Teacher Ratio 7. We recommend that a plan be developed urgently to increase the NUJS faculty size to a strength of at least 80, appropriately distributed between various levels of seniority as needed for teaching and research. The faculty requirement should be drawn up based on training and research strategies to be drawn up by the Teaching Dean and a Dean be in charge of Strategy and Planning. … Strengthen Academic Administration … 14·. We recommend a clear framework for defining and measuring faculty quality, including such factors as knowledge and expertise; academic contributions; inter-personal skills; democratic values; listening skills; openness to being questioned; and teaching, research, speaking and writing skills. Strengthen Grievance Redress 15. We recommend that an independent Ombudsman be appointed by the EC for the University, reporting directly to the EC, to ensure that grievances are attended to promptly and fairly. The appointment of an Ombudsman is in any case required by UGC Regulations as well. Reform and Strengthen Career Advancement Policies 16. We recommend that the career advancement system be replaced by open competitive selection (with due deference to Constitutional policies on reservations) for every position based on demonstrated merit, objectively defined and measured. This is the practice in the kind of global institution of excellence that NUJS seeks to become. This would give young faculty the opportunity for rapid promotion and provide an incentive to all faculty to deliver on quality. We would also recommend that the practice of promoting staff to senior positions against short term leave vacancies also be discontinued because these practices disconnect career growth from academic performance. The only path for an academic to rise in her or his career should be the quality of academic performance. UGC norms should not be a hurdle to this change Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART B: ACADEMIC REFORMS 21 because UGC norms are meant to apply to institutions in general, and are not intended to prevent institutions of excellence from developing new best practice which may later become a policy for all institutions to emulate. We are also of the view that API score policy of UGC has inherent defects and therefore NUJS should evolve in its place its own policy which should promote genuine merit and achievement. As per Knowledge Management Commission recommendation, appointment to a professorial position should ideally be always by invitation and not by application. National Law Schools should jointly conduct their own NET equivalent examination for Assistant Professors instead of adopting UGC NET /SET. Make Selection Processes Objective and Independent 17. We recommend that the selection process for faculty be considerably revised and strengthened. The selection committee should have independent subject matter experts rather than be chosen based on the basis of position alone (e.g., VCs). Criteria and processes for selection should be clear. In selection, greater weight should be given to expanding diversity - gender as well as social and regional background so as to reinforce the national character of this State institution. … Introduce Specialized Streaming in the LL.B. course 20. The practice of law - in courts and elsewhere - is becoming more specialized and complex by the day. Yet, legal education remains stubbornly generalist and largely uniform unlike for example other fields of professional education such as engineering and medicine. This trend is changing. Harvard Law School has created five "programmes" for students to choose within their JD curriculum. What we propose, going further than Harvard Law School, is that the fourth and fifth year of the LL.B. be converted, at the option of the student, entirely into two years of specialization a round four streams: litigation and ad judication (for those who wish to join the Bar or the Bench): corporate and economic law: legal academics (for those who wish to teach or research): and public law (for those wish to join the civil service or work with civil society). Optionals may be taken, up to a permitted number, in other disciplines or for subjects not offered by NUJS. Those who do not wish to specialize can choose any combination of optionals. Our proposal will require that the last two years will consist entirely of optional subjects, with all mandatory subjects being completed in the first three years, in full compliance with BCI requirements. During our consultations we received a vast number of conflicting suggestions for curricular modifications from four diverse professional domains referred to above that would be impossible to accommodate without the proposed "streaming". With such an approach, it will be possible to cater to the needs and demands of each domain in a much better way. … 1. Reforms in Academic Rules Over the past few years, especially since the formation of the Academic Reforms Committee (ARC) of the SJA, the SJA has persistently been presenting suggestions to introduce additions Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART B: ACADEMIC REFORMS 22 and reforms to the Academic Rules. However, even before that, since January 2014, several suggestions were made to the University which were subsequently debated and approved by the faculty and Prof. Bhat (minutes of Faculty Meeting held on February 12, 2014). These were supposed to be notified and implemented by Prof. Bhat expeditiously (email by Mr. Saurabh Bhatacharjee dated February 17, 2015). These reforms have, however, not been formalised into Academic Rules till date. Throughout its tenure, the SJA actively pushed for reforms in the Academic Rules. However, Prof. Bhat persistently attempted to stall our efforts to bring about constructive changes to the Academic Rules. The SJA submitted a comprehensive amendment proposal to the Academic Rules to the 27th Academic Council Meeting (held on August 26, 2016). The Hon’ble Academic Council formed a Sub-committee to look into our proposals comprising – comprising of Prof. Arup Poddar (Chairperson), Prof. TVGNS Sreenivasulu, Prof. Anirban Mazumdar, Ms. Vaneeta Patnaik, Ms. Anupama Ghoshal and Mr. Tapas Bhattacharya (minutes of the Meeting, and the corresponding Office Order). Subsequently, the office-bearers and the then ARC Coordinator, Mr. Sandeep Ravikumar had a couple of meetings with the said Sub-committee wherein most of the amendments suggested by the SJA were accepted. The Sub-committee submitted its final report to Prof. Bhat on March 3, 2017 which was, in turn, forwarded to the faculty for their approval. Among other things, the Sub-committee accepted the following proposals: ➢ Publication of model answer scripts. ➢ Timely circulation of Under Graduate Council meeting minutes and agendas to students. ➢ Submission of an evaluation criteria stipulation upon finalisation of project submission date, providing clearly explained criteria on which projects will be evaluated. ➢ Submission of project scores in the format of criteria provided for above. ➢ Project consultation on specific application post release of final scores. ➢ Submission of both end-semester examinations and repeat/ improvement examinations question papers at the same time. The Moderation Committee shall ensure, to the greatest extent possible, that the standard of difficultly of question papers for the end-semester examinations and the repeat/ improvement examinations are the same, and that the allocation of question papers for the regular end-semester examinations and the repeat/ improvement examinations are at random. Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART B: ACADEMIC REFORMS 23 ➢ No indication of whether the answer script or code is that of a student appearing for a repeat or an improvement or as a fresh candidate. ➢ Notification of plagiarism related decisions before end-semester examinations. ➢ Maintenance of an online repository of past question papers on nujslibrary.org. However, in what appeared to be yet another attempt to stall this process, in March 2018, Prof. Bhat formed yet another committee (comprising Mr. Saurabh Bhatacharjee, Mr. Kumarjit Ray and Mr. Mahesh Menon) to “review” the Academic and Examination Rules, 2012. In addition to the aforesaid recommendations, the URC also noted (URC, p. 37): 116. … In the absence of corrective action from the administration, students formed an Academic Reforms Committee and put together detailed proposals for reforming the prevalent Academic and Examination Rules. Their proposals have not been acted upon. … Every member of faculty should be required to give written/emailed comments on project papers to every student. Answer key/Criteria used for evaluation must be shared at the time of declaration of results. The same shall be discussed at an Open Session. … The Chancellor, Hon’ble Chief Justice Dipak Misra (vide a letter dated January 27, 2018) instructed Prof. Bhat to place the aforesaid recommendations before appropriate statutory and other University bodies for necessary action. Relying on the aforesaid communication, our written representation to the Hon’ble Academic Council in its 32nd Meeting (held on May 10, 2018) had highlighted some of the aforesaid URC recommendations/ observations and the aforesaid Sub-committee conclusions, imploring urgent action by the Hon’ble Council. However, the discussion on the same was unfortunately deferred due to logistical difficulties (minutes of the Meeting). We trust the future office-bearers to push for the swift implementation of the aforesaid recommendations. 2. Creation of Credit Courses Cell The creation of an independent credit courses cell has greatly increased the quality and quantity of credit courses offered over the four semesters covered in our tenure. Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART B: ACADEMIC REFORMS 24 LIST OF CREDIT COURSES, 2016-17 MONSOON SEMESTER Global South by Prof. Vijay Prashad, Indian historian, journalist, commentator and a 1. Marxist intellectual. He is the George and Martha Kellner Chair in South Asian History and Professor of International Studies at Trinity College. In 2013–2014, he was the Edward Said Chair at the American University of Beirut. 2. The Partition of India: Problems and Perspectives by Dr. Venkat Dhulipala, Associate Professor Department of History University of North Carolina, Wilmington. The Missing Links: Justice in the Larger Interest by Mr. Vikram Soni, UGC Professor, at 3. the Centre for Theoretical Physics, at Jamia Millia Islamia. He was awarded a Ph.D. in Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1976. He has worked mainly in High Energy Physics and Astrophysics. 4. Article 19(1)(a) by Ms. Ujwala Uppulari, (BA, LLB (Hons.) (NUJS 2014), LLM (Harvard 2016). 5. Corporate Compliance – A Comparative Perspective by Dr. Navajyoti Samanta, Lecturer in Commercial law at University of Sheffield. 6. Legislative Drafting by Mr. T.K. Viswanthan and Prof. K. Chakrabarti. International Criminal Law by Prof. Nicholas Tsagourias, Professor of International Law 7. at the University of Sheffield under the Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) Programme. WINTER SEMESTER 8. Environmental Justice by Ms. Esmeralda Colombo, Qualified Lawyer (Italy) & Academic Researcher. Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART B: ACADEMIC REFORMS 9. 10. 11. 12. 25 Mergers and Acquisitions by Ms. Pooja Mahajan, ex-Partner at the Amarchand Mangaldas. Energy, Climate and Global Environment by Dr. Armin Rosencranz, Lawyer and Political Scientist. Corporate Governance by Prof. Umakanth Varottil, Associate Professor at National University of Singapore. Law and Economics of World Trade Law by Professor Alexander J. Wulf, Professor of Business Law, SRH University of Berlin under the aegis of GIAN Programme. Law and Policy Research on Financial Laws by Mr. Pratik Dutta, Ms. Rajeswari Sengupta, 13. Prof. Ajay Shah, Mr. Ashish Agarwal, Mr. Anirudh Burman, Mr. Shubho Roy held in partnership with the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi. 14. 15. 16. Patent Procedure and Practice offered by Ms. Dipanjana Rudra, Registered Indian Patent Agent. Constitution and Constitutionalism by Mr. Mohan Pieris, 43rd de facto Chief Justice of Sri Lanka. Law and Public Policy by Mr. Deborshi Barat, M.A. in Law & Diplomacy (MALD) and LLM Fletcher School, Tufts University. LIST OF CREDIT COURSES, 2017-18: MONSOON SEMESTER 1. Competition and Anti-Trust Law in India by Rahul Satyan and Indrajit Sircar, Associates at AZB & Partners, Noida and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, New Delhi respectively. 2. Hands-on Criminal Trial by Achin Jana, Advocate, Calcutta High Court. Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART B: ACADEMIC REFORMS 3. 26 International Commercial Arbitration by Alipak Banerjee, Senior Member of the International Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice, Nishith Desai Associates. WINTER SEMESTER 4. Competition Law by Manas Kumar Chaudhuri, Partner and Competition Head, Khaitan & Co., New Delhi. International Tax Law by Ashrita Prasad Kotha, Assistant Professor and Assistant 5. Director, Centre for Comparative and International Taxation at Jindal Global Law School, Sonepat. 6. Legal Drafting by Justice Protik Prakash Banerjee, sitting judge of Calcutta High Court. 7. Law and Writing by Suhrith Parathasarthy, Advocate, Madras High Court and journalist. 8. Feminist Judgment Writing by Jhuma Sen, Assistant Professor at O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonepat. 9. Principles of Business Law by David S. Curry, Senior Counsel at Mayer Brown LLP, Chicago. 10. Real Estate Laws by Dr. Sudhir Krishna, Karnataka Cadre of IAS (1977 Batch), Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development. International Trade Regulation by James Nedumpara, Associate Professor of Law and 11. the Executive Director of the Centre for International Trade and Economic Laws at the Jindal Global Law School, Sonepat and Head of the Centre for International Trade and Investment Law (CTIL) at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT). Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART C: LIBRARY 27 PART C: LIBRARY In view of our representation to the URC, specifically in respect of improper allocation of student library fee, it made the following recommendation (URC, p. 51): Establish a Knowledge Resources Committee 29. In our view, a strong Knowledge Resources Committee is required with faculty and students to ensure that library fees are fully used for knowledge resources and that requisite IT resources are in place. The Chancellor, Hon’ble Chief Justice Dipak Misra (vide a letter dated January 27, 2018) instructed Prof. Bhat to place the aforesaid recommendation before the Library Committee. 1. Involvement of Students Pursuant to our efforts, one student representative has been duly authorised to attend all the fortnightly Library Committee meetings for the first time. In addition, the President and the Vice President of the SJA have been allowed to attend certain Library Committee meetings in observational capacity, whenever so requested. 2. Addition of Online & Remote Access Resources ▪ After many years, the Library finally upgraded the list of e-resources pursuant to our representation. The most significant upgrade, in our opinion, is LexisNexis India which contains most of the flagship titles from LexisNexis India, including, Mulla’s Indian Contract Act, A. Ramaiya Guide to the Companies Act, Bachawat’s Law of Arbitration among dozens of other titles. ▪ Other databases that were added are: ➢ SAGE Journals ➢ The Modern Law Review ➢ Oxford Constitutional Law ➢ University Press Scholarship Online ➢ Bloomsbury Collection eBooks ➢ Investor State Law Guide Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART C: LIBRARY 28 3. Library Website Arjun designed a new official website for the Library (nujslibrary.org) which among other features includes regular updates on latest arrivals (books and journals), previous question papers, et al. This is expected to increase the accessibility of library resources. For comparison, one may refer to the old website. 4. UPSC Resources For the first time, a plethora of high-end UPSC preparation material was added along with a few judicial services’ preparation books (list of books). 5. Book-Bank Facility Under this facility, eligible students can issue relevant textbooks and retain them for the entire duration of the semester (until the relevant end-semester examinations). Textbooks pertaining to subsequent semesters can be availed upon the return of textbooks issued for the preceding semester. Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART D: INFRASTRUCTURE 29 PART D: INFRASTRUCTURE We are proud that in our two terms, we saw through the most sweeping infrastructural upgrades of this decade. As mentioned in PART A, despite repeated reminders and requests, Rs. 7.37 crores of the XIIth Plan UGC grant were due to lapse on March 31, 2017. The utilisation certificates were duly submitted, and the remaining grant claimed only after our unprecedented physical representation before the 53 rd Executive Council Meeting (minutes of the Meeting). The below-mentioned major upgrades were financed from the rescued UGC grant. 1. Classrooms NUJS classrooms were long criticised as being unbecoming of a premier institution such as ours by students and visiting faculty alike. Full-scale renovation of the classrooms involving false ceiling, new flooring, better lighting, freshly painted walls, cushioned furniture, projectors and new digital podiums was effected over the 2017 summer break to address this longstanding student grievance. Pursuant to requests by students, wall-mounted fans were added subsequently. 2. Mess The NUJS Mess was first constructed to accommodate batches of 80 students each. Despite the lapse of a full decade, the NUJS Mess had not seen any infrastructural updates till 2017. Pursuant to our demand, the NUJS Mess was fully renovated with air-conditioners, fresh painting and tiling, false ceiling and increased seating space during the 2017 summer break. This was funded out of the abovementioned unclaimed UGC grant. 3. Room No. 107 This room was in tatters for at least half a decade before SJA (2016-17) took over. However, pursuant to the assurances given to us by Prof. Bhat and Dr. Khan in a General Body meeting (held on September 21, 2016), the room was completely refurbished and renovated by November 10, 2016. 4. Projector in the Auditorium The permanent installation of a projector in the Auditorium has facilitated many events, including Law and Contemporary Affairs Society movie screenings and sports screenings. Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART D: INFRASTRUCTURE 30 5. Auditorium Sound System A new sound mixer cum console was added in July 2016. 6. Reconstruction of the Road Inside University Campus To avoid the serious repercussions of frequent water logging, the road inside the University campus was entirely redone. 7. Construction of a Cricket Pitch Behind Boys’ Hostel A long-standing demand from sports’ enthusiasts on campus, the pitch was constructed after persistent follow-ups. 8. Creation of a Proper Dance Room In furtherance of long-standing demands for a room conducive to cultural activities, Room No. 006 of Academic Block was not only designated (now known as the Dance Room) but also fully renovated with false ceiling, wooden flooring and mirrors. 9. Executive Waiting Area (Room No. 103) With false ceiling, textured painting, sound proofing and tile flooring, this room has been fashioned to serve the dual purpose of an executive waiting area for dignitaries/guest lecturers and conducting recruitment interviews. 10. Geysers For greater convenience of the residents, electrical geysers were installed inside the cubicles of hostel washrooms. Procurement of new geysers was also initiated. 11. Microwaves in Hostels For convenience of the residents, microwaves were installed in the common areas of each floor of both Boys’ and Girls’ hostels. 12. RPC Lounge (Room No. 108) and SJA Room The Recruitment and Placement Committee Lounge and the SJA Room was completely renovated with false ceiling, tile flooring and fresh painting. Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART D: INFRASTRUCTURE 13. 31 Overhaul of De-ironing Plant In light of complaints regarding hardening of water, the De-ironing Plant was overhauled. 14. Addition of Sensors to Hostel Lifts Automated door sensors were added to avoid annoying mishaps such as spillage of food while entering hostel lifts. 15. Storage Room for the Sports’ Committee Inventory Wastage of Sports’ Committee’s inventory was a major problem and severely stressed the SJA’s budget every year. To remedy the same, a separate storage area was constructed for sports inventory. 16. Mosquito Nets To address the menace of both mosquitoes and lizards, the process of installation of mosquito nets on both windows and air vents in room was initiated during the 2017 summer break. On the insistence of the then Registrar (Acting), Dr. Khan, this was done through a small, local vendor. As a result, this process is being effected through the Local Purchase Committee which has an upper limit of Rs. 1 lakh of expenditure in one instance and is taking longer than expected. 17. Repair of Library Chairs Another long-standing demand that was fulfilled in the first quarter of 2017 was the repair of library chairs. Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART E: FUNCTIONING OF THE SJA 32 PART E: FUNCTIONING OF THE SJA No institution is perfect. As office-bearers, we constantly strived to put in place systems that would outlast our time in the University and be more conducive to greater transparency and efficiency. 1. Transparency in Appointment Process Every SJA before us made all the nominations purely based on 250-word statements of purpose. There were only two Administrative Secretaries and two Treasurers. To make the SJA more approachable, efficient, meritocratic and diverse, we introduced interview-based selections for SJA nominations. The number of applications rose instantly from an annual average of 3-4 to over 20. The interviews were about half an hour long each and helped us gauge the motivations, understanding of University processes and vision of the candidates. In effect, it blessed us with not only an incredible team, but also initiated a culture of nurturing prospective candidates – as reflected by the candidates’ list for SJA elections (2018-19). 2. New Positions The introduction of the Press Secretary position reaped immense benefits for our University’s public relations management (PART J). At the same time, additional Administrative Secretaries enabled efficient work-division. 3. Funds Allocation ▪ Earlier, substantial portions of SJA funds used to lapse due to non-utilisation. To remedy this and achieve better accountability from various committees, the budget allocation was shifted from an annual to a semester-wise process. ▪ For allocation, we invited the office-bearers of each SJA committee for consultations, wherein we scrutinised their demands, suggested cost-cutting and made new event (Teachers’ Day) and initiative (Moot Mentor and Coaches’ Programme) proposals. 4. Inclusion of ADR Society within the fold of the SJA The ADR Society was sought to be made an SJA committee and was granted funds from the SJA budget (2017-18) to revolutionise mediation/negotiation culture of the University. Once officially effected, their important financial and selection functions will be under the purview of the Vigilance Commission. Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PARTS F – I: SJA BUDGET TRILATERAL DIRECT ELECTIONS FOR THE MESS COMMITTEE 33 REJUVENATION OF NATURE COMMITTEE PART F: SJA BUDGET The SJA Budget was increased from Rs. 12 lakhs to Rs. 15 lakhs pursuant to efforts by SJA (2014-2015). Based on SJA’s (2016-17) representation, the Hon’ble Finance Committee sanctioned an unprecedented Rs. 5 lakhs raise (to Rs. 20 lakhs). Again, on request of SJA (2017-18), the Hon’ble Finance Committee sanctioned an increase in SJA budget to Rs. 22 lakhs. This has and should continue to help SJA committees in organising new events and keeping up with growing inflation. A comparison between Vigilance Commission semester-wise audit reports for Academic Year 2015-16 as against Academic Years 2016-18 will evidence the increase in quality and quantity of student activities and facilities because of these consistent hikes. PART G: TRILATERAL The second edition of the NLS-NALSAR-NUJS Trilateral Series was a three-day sporting extravaganza that aimed to bring together the student communities of the three premier law schools through the spirit of sportsmanship and brotherhood. The SJA assisted the Sports Committee in soliciting Fox & Mandal (sole sponsor) and provided for the remaining shortfall out of the SJA budget (2017-18). PART H: DIRECT ELECTIONS FOR THE MESS COMMITTEE Despite initial resistance by some outgoing members, the Mess Committee was finally fully democratised via direct elections Academic Year 2016-17 onward. PART I: REJUVENATION OF NATURE COMMITTEE SJA (2017-18) revived the defunct Nature Committee after a period of three years. Many of our nominated office-bearers joined the Committee. In its first year post-revival, it successfully effected the following: 1. Tie-Up with Vital Waste for Waste Management 2. Plantation Drive 3. Procurement and Placement of New Dustbins Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART J: PUBLIC RELATIONS 34 PART J: PUBLIC RELATIONS 1. Official University Website After at least half a decade’s persistent efforts, recently the University website was finally revamped into a more organised and aesthetically appealing website. 2. SJA Website/ NUJS’ Social Media Presence When we first took office, the University was reeling with bad press. We also felt that the University lacked an online platform to adequately portray its vibrant student culture and activities. The University website back then was both redundant and outdated to serve this purpose. Envisioned to fill this gap, the SJA website not only created an efficient platform for portrayal of student and committee achievements but also opened an avenue for highlighting positive aspects about the University in general. With information about committees, visitors’ testimonials, faculty and staff directories, and handy links to important documents, the SJA website today serves as single window for information dispersal both within and outside the University. Over the course of two years, the website has featured a wide variety of content including news on mooting, debating and scholarly achievements, public statements on issues confronting our peers from other law schools, faculty and student editorial publications, and a series of alumni interviews such as ‘Entrepreneurs of NUJS’ and ‘In the Service of the Nation’. As a result, the website has become a melting pot of NUJS achievements and culture. The website has also served as the first point of publication for joint statements released by the student bodies of NLSIU, NALSAR and NUJS under extraordinary circumstances. Some stories on the website were directly picked up by mainstream and legal media, boosting both our print and online presence. Driven by the back-support from the SJA website, the SJA also launched NUJS’ official Facebook and Twitter handles (operated by its Press Secretaries) to actively promote the NUJS brand within the law school circuit and beyond. NUJS became a trendsetter among NLUs to have such a presence on social media – in line with other top-league institutions in the country. While the Twitter handle was unilaterally usurped by the administration subsequently, the SJA continues to operate and regularly update the Facebook handle. Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART J: PUBLIC RELATIONS 35 Apart from facilitating circulation of SJA website’s content on social media, the Facebook handle also facilitates direct engagement of law aspirants with the University, tackling scores of admission queries pertaining to all the offered courses every admission season. 3. SJA Mobile App Aditya designed this mobile application to simplify lives. Being the first-ever app for a student body, it currently features a campus social networking site, campus news and videos, NUJS history, events, alumni network, mess menu updates, a maintenance form, suggestions form, updates on new credit courses, library services, NUJS' visitors comments and testimonials, credit course updates and information on the SJA team. The app was made available for download across all mobile platforms – Android, iOS, Windows and Blackberry, and is currently live on Google Play Store (Legally India). 4. AlmaConnect After two years of persistent efforts, we finally subscribed to AlmaConnect (NUJS) – funded entirely out of the SJA budget (2017-18). AlmaConnect serves as a private professional social network exclusively for NUJS students, alumni and faculty, and will enable us to connect with and leverage our alumni network. This makes NUJS one of the three NLUs presently availing the service. Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART J: MISCELLANEOUS 36 PART K: MISCELLANEOUS ▪ Pursuant to the exchange in a General Body meeting (held on September 21, 2016), the NUJS Policy on Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal of Sexual Harassment of Women finally came into effect on December 1, 2016. Prof. Bhat had first promised to implement the same back in 2014. ▪ The lunch break was extended from 35 minutes to 55 minutes. ▪ Boys’ Hostel 5th Floor Balcony was made accessible to students, considering the otherwise limited access to open spaces. ▪ For Academic Year 2017-18, the SJA played an active role in the CLAT Admission Process. To make the incoming batch acquainted with the University and the surroundings, a “Beginners’ Guide to NUJS Life” was prepared by the SJA and released during the CLAT Admission Process. Later, the SJA also put up a help-desk at the Pool of Justice to address all queries of incoming students and their parents. ▪ In another unprecedented move, the SJA successfully convinced the University administration to contribute towards both the Farewells during its tenure, thereby subsidising costs incurred for the two Farewells and making this event accessible to more students. ▪ New and old events such as Holi, Lohri and the Teachers’ Day were organized by the SJA. ▪ A common SJA DSLR camera was procured out of the SJA budget (2016-17) to subsidise photography expenditure for various student events. ▪ The Recreation Room was renovated with, among other things, installation of a Sony Play Station 4 in association with the Sports Committee, out of the SJA budget (201617). ▪ Creation of NUJS Announcements Facebook group facilitated announcements and discussions which do not necessarily pertain to SJA. ▪ A progressive amendment to the SJA Constitution was approved by the entire student body in July 2017, but not formalised by Prof. Bhat for reasons best known to him. Student Juridical Association (2016-18) PART J: MISCELLANEOUS ▪ 37 For Academic Year 2016-17, the allocation of University Identification numbers and rooms were done in the alphabetical order to reduce the risk of ghettoization in the hostels. ▪ The ‘Midnight Meal’ services were successfully introduced for the period of all the endsemester examinations during held during our tenure. Similarly, ‘The Food Truck’ provided food services at subsidised rates for majority of two semesters (Winter Semester 2016-17 and Monsoon Semester 2017-18). ▪ The SJA facilitated a tie-up with OYO Rooms, whereby students and various student-run committees were offered heavily discounted rates for lodging during their internships and for University events, respectively. Alternate mirror to all documents hyperlinked. Student Juridical Association (2016-18)