NLSIU crisis: Siddaramaiah bats for early resolution

Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Monday sought an early resolution of the crisis at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) where students are up in arms against the administration on the appointment of a new vice-chancellor.

“NLSIU-Bengaluru is a prestigious institution which has excelled in the field of Public Policy & Law. The ongoing tussle between the Student Bar Association and the administration has to be resolved at the earliest, without violating the due process, in the interest of the institution,” Siddaramaiah, the Congress Legislature Party leader, said in a tweet.

Students of the premier law school boycotted their exams that were scheduled to begin Monday as part of their ongoing tussle with the administration on appointing Sudhir Krishnaswamy as the vice-chancellor.

Krishnaswamy is on the faculty of Azim Premji University. Previously, he was a professor of law at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences where he taught constitutional law and jurisprudence. He was shortlisted by a 5-member committee to become the NLSIU vice-chancellor.

Students argue that the process was fraught with lack of transparency and have been up in arms against the inordinate delay of over 50 days since Krishnaswamy’s candidature was approved.

While Siddaramaiah has called for safeguarding the interests of the institution, the Congress government he headed had amended the National Law School of India Act in June 2017 to reserve 50% seats for local students, a move strongly opposed by the law school. Subsequently, Governor Vajubhai R Vala returned the Bill to the government on technical grounds.