Bangalore: After a week of protests by the student community of National Law School of India (NLSIU) Bangalore against the delay in the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor, the student protests against the interim administration was called off abruptly after the intervention of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayan, an alumnus of the university was able to seek an audience with the CJI, as well as Justice S.A. Bobde, the head of the appointment committee and address the concerns of the students over the delay in the appointment of the VC.The judges said that there has been ‘circulation of misinformation’ regarding the issue and that they have been cognisant of all the information regarding the situation. They held that the decision of the Executive Council was final and the only step left in the appointment of the VC was a formal decision by the Chancellor, which they said will be released shortly. Sankaranarayan has released a statement on the same.“We have been assured by the CJI that the appointment of the VC is final and no changes will take place in this process. Hence, we have called off the protest,” Hamza Tariq, the president of the Students Bar Association told The Wire.A statement released by the Student Bar Association spoke of the following resolutions:The boycott of exams and the peaceful protest is called off with immediate effect.The respected members of the Executive Council will face no hindrance of any form at their 89th Meeting and shall be welcomed by the student body wholeheartedly as they discharge their functions.Similarly, no act of protest or hindrance shall be undertaken by any student with respect to or at the Annual Convocation. The student body will fully support the successful conduct of the same”Almost all of the more than 600 students of the university were a no-show at the allotted examination centres for the test scheduled for Monday. Viva interviews for the day were postponed and rescheduled. NLSIU Bangalore is largely apolitical, these mass protests are the first of their kind in its 32-year history.What kicked off the protestsThe retirement of the erstwhile VC at the beginning of the current academic trimester in July called for the appointment of a new one. A subcommittee was formed for this purpose led by Justice Bobde, a standing judge of the Supreme Court of India. After much deliberation, it was decided by the appointment committee to shortlist the name of professor Sudhir Krishnaswamy, an alumnus of NLSIU, as the new VC. With his name still to be approved by the Chief Justice of India who is the Chancellor of the University, Dr M.K. Ramesh was appointed as the VC (full-time additional charge) during the transitional period.What could have been a smooth transition however was marred by several delays on part of the transitional administration which has also been accused of dire abuse of power by the Student Bar Association (SBA). In a statement released last week, the SBA accused the interim administration of several overarching measures that sought to curb the freedom and the voices of dissent among the student community.Also read: NLSIU Students Accuse Administration of Hindering Procedure to Appoint VC“This transitional administration undertook certain unprecedented steps, including: first, student committees being charged heftily for the use of university infrastructure, like conference halls; second, recruiters being charged for conducting interviews on campus; third, access to academic block being restricted during the night; fourth, the Exam Hall being made unavailable to students for conducting a GBM; fifth, an arbitrary change in the exam schedule merely two weeks before the exam; sixth, personally targeting and threatening students of the ‘consequences’ that would ensue if they continue to voice their concerns; seventh, the Vice-President of SBA was sought to be stopped from writing a repeat exam a few minutes before the exam on flimsy grounds, later found to be baseless” a Student Bar Association Statement read.Students sat on the corridors of the Academic Block protesting the delay in the appointment of the VC. Photo: Student reporterThe SBA office bearers have also claimed to have written to the Supreme Court on this matter, including Justice Bobde, but found their questions unanswered and their queries unaddressed.Students under ‘stress’The ongoing protests at NLSIU seems to be a collective outburst of frustration and anger that has been simmering for a many months now. A mental health survey conducted independently at NLSIU towards the end of the last academic semester found that close to 80% of the students suffered from stress-related issues in the institution. The then office-holders of the SBA appointed five faculty-led subcommittees which proposed a number of reforms related to academia, mental health, sexual harassment and infrastructural capabilities. Even after multiple rounds of deliberation between the SBA and administration, none of those recommendations was acted upon.Also read: Cultivating Empathy in National Law SchoolsMeanwhile, with the protests gathering momentum last week, a subcommittee comprising of two students and two faculty members was formed to look into the allegations which filed its report on Sunday. It unequivocally stated that there was a conflict of interest particularly from the registrar NLSIU registrar, professor O.V. Nandimath, who had also applied for the position of the VC. It also accused the interim administration of delaying the appointment process and lobbying to change the composition of the appointment committee.To add insult to the injury, a fee hike of about Rs 50,000 for Indian students and Rs 1,50,000 for foreign students was implemented for all courses (LLB, LLM and Masters in Public Policy) without due consultations with parents or providing any justifications for the same.Posters and banners were put up on the walls of the Academic block at NLSIU, Bangalore to protest the delay in the appointment of the VC. Photo: By special arrangementSection of student body disappointedHowever, a number of students of the institution are disappointed with the abrupt end of the protest. Many of them lamented the lack of a written commitment to secure the final appointment of the VC.“I am totally lost on what the purpose of the strike was and why it has been called off. Dr M.K. Ramesh is still the VC. Professor Nandimath is still the Registrar. The students have been made to look like common criminals by the Bar Council of India. Professor Krishnaswamy has been accused of trying to orchestrate his posting. The students have withdrawn the strike and will now write exams with little to no preparation. I am not exactly sure what was achieved except a meeting between one of our alumni and the CJI where some verbal discussions took place and no clear commitments were made,” a student, who did not wish to be identified, said.Bar Council speaksAccording to Firstpost, the Bar Council of India wrote to CJI Ranjan Gogoi on Monday to apprise him of the NLSUI students’ protests against the delay in the appointment of the VC and take into cognisance the situation on campus.“It’s a matter of deep concern that National Law School of India University campus is becoming home to unruly elements among students who have forced a strike and boycott of classes in this premier and most outstanding legal education centre of the country and the world. The agitating students have even announced the National Law School of India University,” Ved Prakash Sharma, co-chairman of the BCI, said in a letter to Gogoi.In the letter, Sharma called the protesters “unruly elements” and accused the students of indulging in acts of misdemeanour and bringing down the name of the institution.“There was no reason whatsoever for the student body to make it a controversial issue leading to the present unfortunate scenario. It is high time to address the acts of blatant indiscipline by the student body which call for stringent action against those behind the reprehensible move to disturb and destroy the peace and orderly functioning of NLSIU,” he said.Students who were already unhappy with the protests coming to an abrupt end and their demands having not been met, were aghast at the release of the letter.“The Bar Council of India released a statement condemning the student protests when they’ve literally been the most non violent and non radical protests that I’ve ever seen. We didn’t even make noise when the exams were to be conducted because around 10 people out of the entire college of 600 plus decided to give their exams” a student said.
