BCI Appointed Fact-Finding Team Visits NUSRL

After a 75 hour lockdown of the campus of National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi, the protesting students and the representatives from the Hon’ble High Court and the State of Jharkhand agreed upon a mechanism to bring the protest to a halt.  The students ensured that this is merely a pause and the protest has not been called off. The form of the protest might have changed but it remains intact in its spirit. The newly appointed Acting Vice Chancellor In-Charge, Mr. Gautam Kumar Chaudhary, also the Director of Judicial Academy, Jharkhand, had made multiple visits to the venue of the protest to discuss the grievances of the students. As a culmination, all the assurances given to the students by the Acting Vice Chancellor In-Charge were recorded in writing in the form of Minutes of the meeting and duly signed by not only the Acting Vice Chancellor In-Charge but also by other eminent attendees who had come to address the protesting students.  The minutes are inclusive of initiation of an external audit within fifteen days, publication of available annual audits, and appointment of a Finance Officer, visible infrastructural changes and an inquiry into the past Administrative and Financial mismanagement. The gates were finally unlocked on 13

th April 2017 to let in the administrative staff headed by the newly instated Acting Vice-Chancellor In-Charge with whom the students have consensually decided to cooperate.

During the lockdown, the protest received immense motivation and positive response from all across the country, especially from the legal fraternity, which came out in support of our cause and lent us their valuable words, posts, shares, comments and tweets. Many Universities and Colleges responded to our call for solidarity and stood with us. NLSIU Bangalore, NUJS Kolkata and NALSAR Hyderabad released an unprecedented joint statement in solidarity with the cause of the protest and the zeal of the protesting students. The statement called upon all National Law School students to work together towards jointly fixing what they feel is the root cause of most NLUs’ problems: a distinct lack of funding. Student fraternity of NUSRL Ranchi, shares the concern about inadequate funding of NLU’s across the country and wishes to join the cause for securing INI status for all the NLU’s.

A day after the lockdown came to a pause, The Bar Council of India sent a three member Fact-Finding Team to look into the situation. The team comprised of the following members:

• Hon’ble Advocate- General, Mr. Binod Poddar; Sr. Advocate, High Court of Jharkhand.


• Hon’ble Chairman, Jharkhand State Bar Council, Mr. Rajiv Ranjan, Sr. Advocate High Court of Jharkhand.


• Hon’ble Co-Chairman, Bar Council of India, Mr. Nilesh Kumar, Advocate, High Court of Jharkhand.

The Fact-Finding Team visited the University on 14^th April 2017 and heard the grievances put forth by the students. They took note of the points put forth by the students and directed the students to prepare a conjoint report on the issues ailing the University. The three-member team along with the newly appointed Acting Vice Chancellor In-Charge and Hon'ble Mr. Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh of the Jharkhand High Court visited the Halls of Residence and the Mess Block to physically examine the pitiable state of the University.

The present state of affairs finds the students to be most vigilant, concerned, and committed towards improving the state of affairs and expects the same from the administration.