NLSIU students’ body calls off stir

The decision to call off the strike was taken after the CJI and the second most senior judge of the Supreme Court, Justice S A Bobde, were briefed on behalf of the students by senior advocate and NLSIU alumni member Gopal Sankaranarayanan.

The CJI and Justice Bobde “while noting our concerns and our right to voice the same, have asked that the boycott of exams and protest be called off by the student body immediately,” the SBA said in a statement.

It said the students will not cause any hindrance to an executive council meeting scheduled for September 28 — where the final decision on appointment of the new V-C is expected — and the convocation on September 29.

Read more | Strong support for panel’s V-C pick: ‘NLSIU deserves well-qualified academic’

The statement suggested that the CJI and Justice Bobde were of the view that the process of selecting a V-C had been completed in July and that a decision of a sub-committee of the NLSIU executive council to pick Prof Rhodes Scholar and NLSIU alumnus Sudhir Krishnaswami, as the new V-C was
final.

In the meeting with Sankaranarayanan, the CJI and Justice Bobde indicated that “it is abundantly clear to them that the decision of the sub-committee constituted by the executive council was final”, the SBA said.

Sankaranarayanan, in a statement regarding the meeting, said the judges were unhappy with the protests. “There were serious misgivings about the students of a premier institution going on a ‘strike’ for a matter like this. It was pointed out that the students really have no say in appointment of the Vice Chancellor, and ought not to have adopted a measure that would browbeat the Executive Council. I mentioned that this was mainly due to the conduct of the administration which had been unhelpful,” the statement released via SBA said.

Students boycotted classes on Friday and exams on Monday to protest the nearly two-month delay, despite a panel of experts chosen by the chancellor (CJI) picking a candidate and the candidate being vetted by a committee of the NLSIU executive council on July 23. The appointment has been in limbo despite former V-C Prof R Venkata Rao retiring on July 31.

A three-member high-level committee appointed by the CJI shortlisted three candidates, with Krishnaswami identified as the most suitable.
When the committee’s decision was placed before the executive council on July 6 for consideration on the directions of the CJI, the council, with 20 members, decided to get the decision vetted by a sub-committee of the executive council. On July 23, the sub-committee, headed by Justice S A Bobde (acting chancellor of NLSIU), interviewed the three shortlisted candidates and recommended Krishnaswami.

According to SBA members, the process of announcement of the new V-C was stalled on account of the university’s registrar — an aspirant for the post —- delaying the process to take the decision to another executive council meeting scheduled for September 28.