Aditya AK & Anuj A.National law universities have had a long history of student-administration face offs. And it looks like another one is in the making, this time at the relatively young National Law University of Odisha. This particular stand off also involves the regulator of Indian legal education – the Bar Council of India..Students at NLUO are evidently dissatisfied with the state of academic affairs at the university. And one of their grouses is the allegedly opaque evaluation system being followed, including the lack of clearly laid out examination rules..As per a letter written by LL.M. student Antony Loyed, NLUO has failed to publish its examination rules, a mandatory requirement under under Rule 19 of Schedule III of the Legal Education Rules, 2008. On his part, NLUO’s Vice-Chancellor Srikrishna Deva Rao says that the rules for undergraduate courses are published in the beginning of the year..As for post graduate courses, he says,.“[There] are special rules, it is being communicated by Academic Coordination Committee from time to time. The latest decision in this regard is taken by Academic Coordination Committee on 2ndAugust 2014.”.Things took a surprising turn after Loyed approached the Bar Council of India, through an RTI query. The reply he got from the Bar Council of India is slightly difficult to believe..In its response, the BCI admits that the university has not submitted the examination rules. But what is more worrying is the BCI’s stance that even if the university had submitted the rules, they wouldn’t be available to the public as it would be an “invasion of privacy”..The BCI goes on to state that the examination rules,.“…cannot be provided to any third party as it would cause unwarranted invasion not only in the privacy of the university/college but also on the functioning of the Council. Moreover, this information has no relationship to any public activity or public interest.”.While the BCI’s position certainly merits another look (or two), the lack of published rules is allegedly hurting the student’s interests. According to Loyed,.“In the absence of clear exam rules, NLUO authorities are taking arbitrary decisions which dangerously risk the education and life of the students at NLUO. [Faculty] are using examination as a black mailing and vindictive means against the students who raise the questions on the arbitrary decisions of authorities.”.There are specific grievances as well. For instance, internal marks account for more than half of the total marks per subject, which is in contravention of the UGC guidelines. According to the Vice Chancellor, this is not the case, with a fair distribution between end-term exams (50 marks), and project reports (45 marks), and the final 5 marks for attendance..Similar concerns have also been raised by undergraduate student, including the absence of an elected Student Bar Association. In an e-mail to Bar & Bench, Vice-Chancellor Rao has said that this is being considered by the university, and that talks with students are currently being held..Read the BCI’s reply to Loyed’s RTI:
Aditya AK & Anuj A.National law universities have had a long history of student-administration face offs. And it looks like another one is in the making, this time at the relatively young National Law University of Odisha. This particular stand off also involves the regulator of Indian legal education – the Bar Council of India..Students at NLUO are evidently dissatisfied with the state of academic affairs at the university. And one of their grouses is the allegedly opaque evaluation system being followed, including the lack of clearly laid out examination rules..As per a letter written by LL.M. student Antony Loyed, NLUO has failed to publish its examination rules, a mandatory requirement under under Rule 19 of Schedule III of the Legal Education Rules, 2008. On his part, NLUO’s Vice-Chancellor Srikrishna Deva Rao says that the rules for undergraduate courses are published in the beginning of the year..As for post graduate courses, he says,.“[There] are special rules, it is being communicated by Academic Coordination Committee from time to time. The latest decision in this regard is taken by Academic Coordination Committee on 2ndAugust 2014.”.Things took a surprising turn after Loyed approached the Bar Council of India, through an RTI query. The reply he got from the Bar Council of India is slightly difficult to believe..In its response, the BCI admits that the university has not submitted the examination rules. But what is more worrying is the BCI’s stance that even if the university had submitted the rules, they wouldn’t be available to the public as it would be an “invasion of privacy”..The BCI goes on to state that the examination rules,.“…cannot be provided to any third party as it would cause unwarranted invasion not only in the privacy of the university/college but also on the functioning of the Council. Moreover, this information has no relationship to any public activity or public interest.”.While the BCI’s position certainly merits another look (or two), the lack of published rules is allegedly hurting the student’s interests. According to Loyed,.“In the absence of clear exam rules, NLUO authorities are taking arbitrary decisions which dangerously risk the education and life of the students at NLUO. [Faculty] are using examination as a black mailing and vindictive means against the students who raise the questions on the arbitrary decisions of authorities.”.There are specific grievances as well. For instance, internal marks account for more than half of the total marks per subject, which is in contravention of the UGC guidelines. According to the Vice Chancellor, this is not the case, with a fair distribution between end-term exams (50 marks), and project reports (45 marks), and the final 5 marks for attendance..Similar concerns have also been raised by undergraduate student, including the absence of an elected Student Bar Association. In an e-mail to Bar & Bench, Vice-Chancellor Rao has said that this is being considered by the university, and that talks with students are currently being held..Read the BCI’s reply to Loyed’s RTI:
