To

Honorable Justice Manjula Chellur

Chief Justice, Kerala High Court

Chancellor – The National University of Advanced Legal Studies,

High Court of Kerala

Ernakulam – 682031

25 October, 2012

Re: Selection Process of the Vice-Chancellor

Hon’ble Madame Justice Manjula Chellur,

Through this petition, we would like to bring to your attention certain issues in relation to the appointment of the Vice Chancellor of the National University of Advanced Legal Studies (“NUALS”). Given that you are holding the post of Chancellor at the National University of Advanced Legal Studies, we thought it would be best to highlight these issues to you first rather than any other forum.

As you are aware, the National Institute for Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) was set up by the Bar Council of Kerala Trust in 2002. NIALS was under the supervision of Cochin University of Science and Technology. Later in 2005 by virtue of The National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS) Act 27 of 2005, the National Institute for Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) merged with the NUALS and became an independent University. This in short is the history behind the establishment of NUALS.

Prof. K.N.C. Pillai was the first Director of NIALS and Prof. S. G. Bhat was the first Vice-Chancellor of NUALS. A year after Dr. Bhat left NUALS, Dr. N. K. Jayakumar was appointed as the Vice-Chancellor and he is due to retire in December.

Over the past two years, the growth in infrastructure and academia at NUALS has been exceptional. Add to that, this year’s CLAT scores closed at a cut-off of 638 apropos general category, further raising the bar to gain a notable position among the elite National Law Schools of the country. To accentuate and advance this growth, the University needs to appoint a dynamic personality at the helm of its affairs, who is an academician par excellence, with adequate exposure to higher education systems and experience in scholastic and administrative governance.

Having said that, it is pertinent to know that, the procedure for the appointment of Vice-Chancellor has been clearly prescribed under the NUALS Act. As per Section 27, the Chancellor appoints the

Vice-Chancellor on the unanimous recommendation of the Search Committee appointed by the Chancellor. The Search Committee shall consist of a) One nominee of the Bar Council of Kerala, b) One nominee of the University Grants Commission and c) One nominee of the State Government.

In accordance with Section 27(3), in the event that the Search Committee is unable to recommend a name unanimously, the Vice Chancellor shall be appointed by the Chancellor from among a panel of three names submitted to him by the Committee within three months. Section 27 (4) stipulates that, in case the Committee fails to make an unanimous recommendation or to submit a panel as in section 27(3), the Vice-Chancellor shall be appointed by the Chancellor among a panel of three names submitted to him by a majority of members of the Search Committee.

The Petitioners are not questioning, in any manner whatsoever, the legislative wisdom underlying the sections referred to above but rather, our view is that, while the Search Committee plays a vital role in this entire process, in order to make the selection process more vibrant and transparent, there lies an urgent need of certain institutional measures.

It is most likely that in the absence of instructions/directions guiding internal working and mechanisms of the Search Committee, the credibility of selection made by them will remain doubtful. A conscious application of principles of accountability and transparency in the selection process will certainly provide us with better results, both in terms of identifying a leader distinguished by his academic worth, administrative competence and moral stature; and simultaneously, minimizing the level of political interference in the process.

Within the system that exists and operates in today’s world, it has unfortunately become the norm to have political interferences in so far as academic matters as concerned. Matters relating to the appointment of higher officials, including those of the Vice-Chancellors, metes out no exception to this accepted trend. Political indulgences in these matters have also received a critical outlook in the reports of the Kothari Commission (1964), the Yashpal Committee (2008) and the Knowledge Commission (2009).

It is indeed a matter of deep concern that parameters like competence and qualifications are being subjected to political and financial considerations. Recently Krishna Kumar, Professor of Education at Delhi University and former Director of NCERT, wrote in “The Hindu” an excellent column which addresses some of these issues. One of his statements in relation to weeding out of talent in the selection process does merit repetition here: “Someone rare enough to be independent of personal as well as intellectual lobbies is the first to be eliminated. In the semi-final act of short listing, those lacking support from the dominant lobbies get weeded out. Then, in the ultimate moment, hard bargaining takes place and the institution’s future gets sealed. If there is someone with an unusual

background or achievement, you can depend on the selection committee to find a technical ground to reject him or her.”1

A cursory review of reports of the Gajendragadkar Committee (1971) and Gnanam Committee (1990) (enclosed in Annexure 2) on one hand, and the provisions of pari materia statutes of various State and Central Universities on the other hand, suggests that the presence of Chancellor’s nominee in Search Committee for the appointment of Vice-Chancellor has been accorded due weightage. This is primarily because of the fact that the Chancellor, being the head of the University, has an inherent stake in its administration at policy level and invariably, matters relating to the appointment of Vice-Chancellor, inter alia, are usually kept under her surveillance. Surprisingly, under the NUALS Act, there is no presence of a nominee of the Chancellor in the Search Committee. Such omission raises justifiable doubts that the appointment would be on political considerations and consequently, it posits an onerous duty on the Chancellor to enforce her surveillance by issue of directions.

We note that under the scheme of the NUALS Act, the Chancellor has the competence under Section 10(1)(a) to issue directions and we would urge you to use these powers to introduce certain rules which would guide the Search Committee in the selection process. These directions could address certain guidelines to be followed at the various stages involved in the appointment of a Vice-Chancellor. For instance, at the preliminary stage of selection, the Search Committee could be required to issue a notification in national as well as regional dailies and on University’s website inviting applications / nominations for the post of Vice-Chancellor. The very fact that a larger pool of society would be privy to the vacancy for the post of the Vice Chancellor will ensure that the Search Committee has access to a larger pool of candidates / nominees.

We acknowledge that the accepted tradition and the process followed for selection previously has been to offer the post of Vice-Chancellor to an academician having the requisite qualifications befitting the position; and not any individual putting forward his application for the vacancy. Dating back to the year 1937, the University of Kerala, had offered the position of Vice-Chancellor to the notable physicist Albert Einstein. Such developments sufficiently vouch that importance has invariably been given to scholarly excellence and knowledge.

However, in recent times, the Search Committee hasn't met success in adopting this method and additionally we fear that following such a method could lead to inadequate persons holding the office of Vice Chancellor. For the reasons set out above, we believe that it would be better to take a departure from such decorous norms and adopt alternate methods which could provide us with better results. In furtherance of the same, casting a wider net amongst talented candidates by advertisement in national dailies and the website of NUALS; is a measure that could be adopted. We acknowledge that there exists no universal norm mandating the publication of advertisement for

1 Krishna Kumar, “Universities, ours and theirs”, The Hindu [India] (9th August, 2012). Online: The Hindu < http:// www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article3743238.ece>.s

the appointment of senior functionaries like Vice-Chancellor, but recently the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi, an institute under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has adopted such a method and we are sure; more Universities will follow suit. (IIFT notification enclosed in as Annexure 3).

Additionally, at the time of making a recommendation to the Chancellor for the position of the Vice Chancellor, the Search Committee can be directed to give adequate reasons underlying such suggestion. Post selection, a requirement to consolidate the entire proceedings of the Search Committee into one report and to make it publicly accessible would at least on paper keep the selection process immune from maladministration, corruption and nepotism.

To sum up, if the aforesaid suggestions are implemented, the same will help NUALS to overcome undesirable practices and to enforce quality norms. In the light of the aforesaid, it is our humble submission to you, Your Excellency, to lay out certain principles which could guide the Search Committee in the selection process so as to achieve a more transparent and legitimate selection process for the appointment of the Vice Chancellor of NUALS.

Yours sincerely,

Signatories to Petition:

1. Abhijit Ajayan Student, NUALS

2. Amitav Singh Student, NUALS

3. Apoorv K. C. Student, NUALS

4. Akhilesh K Student, NUALS

5. Aakash Kumbhat Student, NUALS

6. Anandini Kumari Rathore Student, NUALS

7. Ananthu Bahuleyan Student, NUALS

8. Anju Anna John Student, NUALS

9. Anjala Parveen Student, NUALS

10. Arya J Nair Student, NUALS

11. Arya Vivek Student, NUALS

12. Boaz B Abraham Student, NUALS

13. Gowri Harikumar Student, NUALS

14. Kenneth Joe Cleetus Student, NUALS

15. Hafiz Mohammed Student, NUALS

16. Jayant S Student, NUALS

17. J Mandakini Student, NUALS

18. Lincy Eleena Shaji Student, NUALS

19. Malavika S.A Student, NUALS

20. Manu Vyasan

Student, NUALS

21. Meera Nazer Student, NUALS

22. Meenakshi Menon Student, NUALS

23. Minu Babu Student, NUALS

24. Navaz P C Student, NUALS

25. Neha M Kurian Student, NUALS

26. Nikhil Teggi, Student, NUALS

27. Raghavendra Pratap Singh Student, NUALS

28. Riswana Mahamood Student, NUALS

29. Sachin Sathyarajan Student, NUALS

30. Shravan Kumar Y Student, NUALS

31. Siddharth Baladevan Student, NUALS

32. Soumik Chakraborty Student, NUALS

33. Rajeev Hadson S

Student, NUALS

34. Sijo Joseph Student, NUALS

35. Tanya Joy Student, NUALS

36. Vishnu Babu Student, NUALS

37. Vishnu Chandran Student, NUALS

38. Randhir Singh Parent of NUALS Student

39. Urvi Sukul Singh Parent of NUALS Student

40. S.Abdul Nazar Parent of NUALS Student

41. Reena Nazar Parent of NUALS Student

42. Adv. Vivekanandan V Parent of NUALS Student

43. Achu Ann NUALS Alumnus

44. Vishnu Sivanandan NUALS Alumnus

45. Renu C Paul NUALS Alumnus

46. Murali Krishnan

NUALS Alumnus

47. Shrutika Umarji NUALS Alumnus

48. Thanooja Sayed NUALS Alumnus

49. Karthika Prasad NUALS Alumnus

50. Aarsha Unnikrishnan NUALS Alumnus

51. Mohan Roy Mathews NUALS Alumnus

52. Sindhu Sarah Thomas NUALS Alumnus

53. Salman Shanavas NUALS Alumnus

54. Aparna Deepthi T. S. NUALS Alumnus

55. Badam Aravind Reddy NUALS Alumnus

56. Govind R NUALS Alumnus

57. Sandeep Iyer NUALS Alumnus

58. Gayathri M Menon NUALS Alumnus

59. Deepu J.S

NUALS Alumnus

60. Ruth Thomas NUALS Alumnus

61. Sudeep.T.R NUALS Alumnus

62. Mahesh Menon NUALS Alumnus

63. Nikhil Narendran NUALS Alumnus

64. Emil Joseph NUALS Alumnus

65. Shyaam Nagarajan NUALS Alumnus

66. Aparna Nair NUALS Alumnus

67. Asok Chacko Thomas NUALS Alumnus

68. Shojan Jacob NUALS Alumnus

69. Atheetha Raghuchandran NUALS Alumnus

70. Nihas Basheer NUALS Alumnus

71. Oneal Sabu NUALS Alumnus

72. Vishnu Nair NUALS Alumnus

73. Manju M N NUALS Alumnus

74. Cyriac Tom NUALS Alumnus

75. Raghul Sudheesh NUALS Alumnus

76. Dr. George Jose, Associate Professor, School of Law, Christ University

77. Rashid M.A. Eminent Academician

78. Arvind Vijayan Advocate, Delhi Bar Council

79. Shivendra Singh Advocate, Delhi Bar Council

80. Bharat R. Itagi, Student, University Law College, Dharwad

81. Karthika Annamalai Student, NLIU, Bhopal

82. Swatilekha Chakraborty Student, Symbiosis Law School, Pune

83. Sonakshi Das Student, KIIT Law School

84. Vishal Shrivastava

Institute of Law, Nirma University

85. Shubhendu Anand Student, Campus Law Centre – New Delhi

Copy to:-

1. Sri. P K Abdu Rabb

Pro-Chancellor, NUALS

Minister for Education, Govt. of Kerala

Room No: 501, 6th Floor,

Secretariat Annex, Statue,

Thiruvananthapuram

Email: minister-education@kerala.gov.in

Phone: 0471-2326677, 2335366

2. Dr. K M Abraham I.A.S

Principal Secretary – Member, Executive Council, NUALS

Higher Education Department, Govt. of Kerala

3rd Floor, Secretariat Annex, Statue,

Thiruvananthapuram

Email: abrahamkm.prlsecretary@gmail.com, prisecy@higheredu.kerala.gov.in

Phone: 0471-2328410, 2333439