Classes resumed at the National Law Institute University (NLIU), Bhopal, on Thursday after a weeklong protests by students demanding the removal of the institute’s director, Professor S.S. Singh.
The students had called off their agitation on Wednesday following an order by the Madhya Pradesh High Court Chief Justice to “expedite the process of appointing a new director of the premier institute”.
“It was a regular day at the institute for most of us. Today (Thursday), we were back in the classroom,” said a student.
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Bias allegations
For the last one week, nearly 400 students of NLIU had been staging a dharna outside the university gate, demanding the resignation of Prof. Singh, who they claimed was misusing his powers against them and the university.
The students accused Prof. Singh of favouritism, claiming he allowed extra marks to one student during the evaluation of his answer sheet. When the other students brought this alleged bias to the notice of the administration, they were asked to pay ₹1,000 for revaluation of their papers, they alleged.
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“Our director has visited us only once when we were staging a protest in front of the university’s main gate. He never invited us to discuss matters affecting the students. When we refused to withdraw our protest, to hush up the matter he sent our examination papers for rechecking,” said a student requesting anonymity.
Following the protests, Prof. Singh went on leave on Wednesday. While there is no confirmation on his present status, the students and senior faculty members of the institute claimed that the director, who had been holding the position for the last 10 years, has finally resigned.
Meeting with CJ
A group of NLIU students met Chief Justice Hemant Gupta on Wednesday, seeking his intervention to resolve the crisis on campus. The meeting was also attended by Justice J.K. Maheshwari, Advocate General Purushendra Kaurav, senior advocate V.K. Tankha and Bhopal Law and Legislative Affairs Department Principal Secretary A.M. Saxena.
“The process of appointment of a new director of the National Law Institute University, Bhopal, shall be expedited,” stated the minutes of the meeting held in the chamber of the Chief Justice at Jabalpur.
During the meeting, Ms. Girbala Singh, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Bhopal, was appointed the registrar of NLIU, Bhopal, with effect from November 16, 2017.
Justice Gupta also constituted a fact-finding committee to examine the “administrative mismanagement” at NLIU and submit its report by December 25, 2017.
Following the Chief Justice’s assurance, the students agreed to call off their agitation and attend classes from Thursday.