The National University of Juridical Sciences in Kolkata has come in for criticism after drafting a new set of service rules that curtail the freedom of its employees. Among them are directions that ask employees to report relatives who indulge in “subversive” activities against the government. Vice Chancellor Professor P Ishwara Bhat, however, clarified that the rules are still being discussed, and that it is just a draft, reported The Indian Express.
The university is one of the biggest law schools in the country. The Chief Justice of India is the chancellor and the chairperson of the university’s general council.
The rule in the draft reads: “it shall be the duty of every employee to prevent any member of his family from taking part in, subscribing in aid of, or assisting in any other manner any movement or activity which is, or tends directly or indirectly to be, subversive of the Government”.
If put into practice, the new service rules will prevent employees of the university from making any controversial statements about the university or its actions to the media. Employees will also be barred from taking part in a radio broadcast or electronic media programme, contribute any article, write any letter or a book without the university’s approval, unless it is “purely literary, artistic or scientific character”.
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