NLSIU students say registrar stalling VC appointment

The Student Bar Association (SBA) of the NLSIU has charged the registrar of the university with delaying the appointment of its next Vice-Chancellor.

The association passed a strongly worded resolution on Sunday blaming the university registrar Professor O V Nandimath for the delay in elevating Professor Sudhir Krishnaswamy to the post of Vice-Chancellor. They accuse Prof Nandimath of conflict of interest.

“There are reasons to believe that he is needlessly obstructing the appointment of the next Vice-Chancellor,” said a statement by the SBA, released to DH on Thursday.

When queried about the delays to his appointment, Professor Krishnaswamy described the drawn-out timeframe as unusual. “This timeframe, to finalise the appointment, cannot be described as normal. After all, the process began last November. Now, it is September 2019,” he said. Professor Nandimath did not respond when DH called for a comment.

Students that DH spoke described the alleged actions as being especially egregious in light of a July 6 decision by a sub-committee under the chairmanship of Justice Sharad A Bobde (Acting Chancellor of NLSIU) who recommended the name of Professor Sudhir Krishnaswamy to be the Vice-Chancellor. Following this, the Executive Council had approved Professor Krishnaswamy “as the Vice-Chancellor,” the SBA statement read.

The statement added that the “student body has lost all faith in (Nandimath’s) ability to act in an impartial manner in this matter.”

A senior student, speaking on condition of anonymity, accused the registrar of having a conflict of interest. “Professor Nandimath was also a candidate for the post of VC but was not selected. My belief is that the process of Professor Krishnaswamy’s appointment is now being drawn out to stall the process, so as to enable a fresh selection process,” the student said.

The SBA, in its general body meeting, called on the registrar to recuse himself from the process "owing to his obstructionist behaviour and evident conflict of interest, having been one of the 16 applicants for the position of Vice-Chancellor.”