Academicians initiate protests against axing of IP Chair Profs NS Gopalakrishnan & Yogesh Pai; Opaque administration makes news again

The arbitrary removal of Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) Chair Professor on Intellectual Property at Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), Professor NS Gopalakrishnan and MHRD Chair Coordinator on IP at National Law University (NLU), Jodhpur, Professor Yogesh Pai has sparked off protests amongst legal academicians and students alike..Professor NS Gopalakrishnan, an internationally acclaimed IP expert, is widely regarded as one of the leading authorities in India on IP law. He was serving as the MHRD Chair Professor at School of Legal Studies, CUSAT when vide an order dated July 30, 2013, the University Syndicate terminated his deputation without giving any reason and directed him to join his parent department..Likewise, Professor Yogesh Pai, MHRD Chair coordinator on IP at NLU, Jodhpur was also arbitrarily removed when the Vice Chancellor announced his replacement through a one line notice without assigning any reason for his termination. Pai had, subsequently, written to the MHRD clarifying that he had not voluntarily resigned or requested the University to relieve him..Academicians led by MHRD Chair Professor of IP at National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata, Professor Shamnad Basheer, have initiated protest against the dismissals and decided to petition the Chief Minister of Kerala and the Chancellor of NLU Jodhpur against the removal of Professor Gopalakrishnan and Professor Pai respectively. .The petition to the Chief Minister of Kerala, Oomen Chandy, expresses.“genuine suspicion that this unexpected termination is arbitrary and amounts to an abuse of discretion, given that the said order cites no reason for the dismissal, such as a failure to perform”..Voicing concern over the possibility of “[S]tate of Kerala and a reputed University such as CUSAT” losing out on the MHRD Chair “owing to an arbitrary transgression by the Cusat Syndicate”, request has been made in the petition to.“Investigate this matter, as it sends out a very unhealthy signal that extremely committed academics who have contributed immensely to the growth of a University can be dismissed at the drop of a hat without rhyme or reason”..Similar request has been raised in the petition addressed to the Chancellor of NLU Jodhpur with regard to the dismissal of Professor Pai..Terming both Professor Gopalakrishnan and Pai as “rare national assets” request has been made for appending signatures to the protest petitions so as to send a clear message to the.“”Vice” chancellors and their “vicious” ilk that have gone too far with treating institutions as their personal fiefdoms”..Bar & Bench spoke to Professor Shamnad Basheer who had this to say:.“I really hope these incidents prove to be turning points in the history of Indian legal education. It’s a tragedy that we continue to operate under a feudal mentality where despotic vice chancellors treat academic institutions as their personal fiefdoms. If legal education is to progress, this absolute discretion in favour of vice chancellors must be reined in and they must be made accountable. Only then will law schools be able to attract and retain top quality faculty. At a time when we are in dire need of academic talent, these whimsical firings of top notch academics will only bring more disrepute to an already flawed institutional framework. Fortunately the tipping point is near and it is heartwarming to see that a huge number of academics, lawyers and law students have come out in the open and signed the protest petition. There is hope after all!”.It is noteworthy that this is third incident in the recent past involving an arbitrary exercise of discretion by Law Universities against faculty members. Earlier this year, NLSIU was accused of arbitrarily dismissing visiting faculty Siddharth Chauhan for criticising the administration. Such capricious exercise of discretion by Law Universities including the prestigious National Law Universities on several occasions in the recent past does make one ponder over the state of affairs in these institutions..The silence of the Vice Chancellor of National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore to the letters of Shreya Rao, a guest lecturer, pointing out the “marked deterioration of academic standards” at the institute and “unusual levels of disinterest” amongst students is an indicator of the perceived indifference towards faculty members. Such official apathy and victimisation of academics, who demand changes or point out flaws, do not augur well for a field which is grappling with the dearth of quality pedagogs..The petitions to the Kerala Chief Minister and the Vice Chancellor of NLU Jodhpur have received more than 250 signatures so far. Full copy of the petitions is given below..Image taken from here.