Members of various student committees at Dr Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University (RMLNLU), Lucknow have warned of mass resignations by June 12 unless the administration addresses concerns over the restructuring of the committees for the 2026-27 academic session.
3 committees submitted a joint representation to the Vice-Chancellor (VC) stating that the restructuring had rendered them effectively powerless in the discharge of their responsibilities.
The joint representation states that individual representations raising concerns about the restructuring had already been submitted by the committees to the VC and that no substantive response had been received.
The dispute is about a structural change that removed fifth year students from committee leadership roles.
On April 26, the administration informed committee conveners that the new structure would include Joint Conveners from the fourth year and Mentors from the fifth year. However, a notice issued under the instructions of the VC on May 27 restricted applications to third and fourth year students only, with no mention of any mentorship positions.
The joint representation states that the existence of mentorship positions had formed the basis on which the structural changes were explained to the committees and that despite repeated assurances, no such framework has materialised.
A review of official committee constitutions published on the RMLNLU website shows that the appointments depart from the written constitutions of at least two committees. The Moot Court Committee and Internship and Placement Committee constitutions specify two Joint Conveners from the fifth year.
However, the June 4 notice constituting committees for the session 2026-27, signed by Prof Manish Singh as Head of Department and issued with the approval of the VC, appointed fourth year students to the Joint Convener positions in both committees.
The notice also shows that the Treasurer of the Cultural Committee was drawn from third year. This, despite the constitution requiring an appointee from the fourth year.
The representation also states that the notification inviting applications for committee leadership roles was issued during exams and that appointment notifications were subsequently issued when a major chunk of the student body was not present on campus. It says that the consequence was that meaningful consultation, discussion and feedback from affected students has been severely limited throughout the process.
The Debate and Discussion Committee has reportedly historically operated with two Joint Conveners and five Secretaries and has now been reduced to one Convener and two Secretaries. The Legal Aid Committee, according to students, has historically comprised two Joint Conveners from the fifth year.
A separate concern has been raised about the Cultural Committee - that two of the five Secretary positions and the Treasurer position were filled by individuals with no prior membership of the committee.
According to students at RMLNLU, committee positions carry significant professional weight. The University does not offer institutional placements comparable to several peer institutions and students rely on committee leadership experience as a key credential for internships, recruitment and higher education applications, they say.
Bar & Bench sent written queries pertaining to the issue to Prof Manish Singh and the VC. No response had been received at the time of publication.