BENGALURU: Students of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in Bengaluru boycotted their semester-end examinations in protest on Monday, demanding the appointment of a Vice Chancellor (VC), who was shortlisted by the search committee. The exams were scheduled to begin on Saturday.Over 400 students, supported by the alumnus, boycotted the semester examinations to protest the delay in appointing Prof Sudhir Krishnaswamy as the new V-C.
It is said that this was the first time in the NLSIU’s 31-year history that students were boycotting classes and exams. Krishnaswamy was recommended as the first of three choices for V-C by a committee headed by Justice S A Bobde of the Supreme Court on August 4. However, the university’s executive council is yet to issue a formal appointment order. Professor M K Ramesh, a member of the NLSIU faculty for over 27 years, was appointed acting V-C last month.
Daksh Katian, a member of the student body said that Ramesh assured students of a general body meeting at 1.30pm on Saturday and offered to form a sub-committee with two students and two teachers to look into the matter. “A report was filed and there were a few findings,” he told TNIE. The report alleged that a conflict of interest of the registrar and a change in the members of the Executive Council from its previous session, had led to the delay. The students have now demanded the recusal of the Registrar O V Nandimath from any further involvement in the process.
Vice-Chancellor Ramesh sent an e-mail to all students on Monday stating that those who disrupted activites would be dealt with firmly. “There will be an EC meeting on September 28. The CJI has not been invited for this. And there is no transparency in the process,” Katian explained. Faculty members declined to comment on the issue.