NUJS Kolkata to constitute its first ever Review Commission

The National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), Kolkata has constituted a Review Commission for the first time in its 16-year history..Speaking to Bar & Bench, Vice-Chancellor of NALSAR, Hyderabad Prof Faizan Mustafa has confirmed that the Commission will have the following members:.as Chairman, Prof Mohan Gopal (director of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies in Delhi, and the former director of the National Judicial Academy Bhopal);as member, Prof Faizan Mustafa (vice-chancellor of Nalsar Hyderabad); andas third member, Prof Lalit Magotra (former head of physics and sciences dean at the University of Jammu)..Pressure to form the Commission mounted following a petition signed in January 2014 by 453 persons, including students and alumni. The petition, while raising concerns regarding the overall welfare of the University, demanded that the Commission be formed in compliance with Section 14 of the WBNUJS Act..Then Chief Justice of India TS Thakur, who was the ex-officio Chancellor of the University, had signed off on the proposal in November last year, in a general body meeting. The Commission was expected to be formed this year..Section 14 of the WBNUJS Act lays down that the Chancellor is to set up a Review Commission every five years..The constitution of the Commission comes amid concerns regarding the difficulty in correcting maladministration in National Law Universities..NUJS has been in the limelight in recent years, with rising discontent regarding lack of transparency, declining standards of faculty appointments and maladministration. A student resolution was also passed, registering dissatisfaction with the performance of incumbent Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Ishwara Bhat before his reappointment for a second term..Before that, the University’s Registrar SC Mukhopadhyay was ousted, after a Committee constituted by the Calcutta High Court found him guilty of maladministration..The question remains as to far the Committee can be expected to discharge its mandate satisfactorily. Statistically, many review commissions fail to match up to the lofty standards set for them owing to practical difficulties..Prof Bhat could not be reached for comment.