Bar Council of India demands review of decision to appoint Prof Krishnaswamy as NLSIU VC

The Bar Council of India has written to the Chief Justice of India seeking review of Professor Sudhir Krishnaswamy's appointment as Vice Chancellor of National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru.

CJI Ranjan Gogoi is the Chancellor of the NLSIU.

Slamming the students' agitation on the NLSUI campus, the Bar body claimed that Professor Krishnaswamy's role behind the stir cannot be ruled out and the Executive Council's decision to appoint him as Vice Chancellor should be reviewed to restore discipline.

"The students body is crossing its limit by trying to question the functioning of the Executive Council and accusing the Registrar by imputing motives on him for allegedly halting the process of appointment of Professor Sudhir Krishnaswamy as Vice-Chancellor, totally forgetting that the Registrar is also a senior professor of NLSIU and commands respect in the academic circles as an acclaimed teacher of law," the BCI said in a statement.

It claimed the campus is becoming home to "unruly elements among students who have forced a strike" and are boycotting classes at the institution.

Quoting media reports, it said a large number of student in the varsity boycotted the semester examinations which were scheduled to begin from Monday to protest the "delay" in appointing Professor Krishnaswamy as its new Vice Chancellor.

"The students body is indulging in acts of misdemeanour and indiscipline which is bringing down the image of the institution in the estimation of one and all," the BCI said.

"The role of Professor Krishnaswamy behind the present agitation cannot be ruled out. To restore discipline in the campus, the decision to appoint him as Vice Chancellor should be reviewed by the Executive Council and suitable action taken against the students responsible for creating the present situation in the NLSIU campus," it said.

"It is high time NLSIU in insulated from elements that pose a danger to the smooth functioning of the best law school built by decades of hard toil by most reputed legal luminaries of the country," the statement said.

It said that there was no reason for the students' body to make a "controversial issue leading to the present unfortunate scenario".

The BCI said that it was high time to address acts of "blatant indiscipline" by the students body and take stringent action against those behind the move.

It requested the Executive Council to include the BCI letter for discussion in its next meeting scheduled to be held on September 28.