The Hidayatullah National Law University in Raipur on Tuesday reinstated Vice-Chancellor Sukhpal Singh, a week after the Supreme Court stayed the Chhattisgarh High Court’s order against extending his term.
Singh was removed following the High Court’s order and an interim vice-chancellor – RS Sharma, who is the state’s principal secretary, law – was appointed on August 29.
Students at the university began protesting against hostel curfews and restrictive library timings on August 27. Some of their other grievances are sexual harassment by teachers, harassment by hostel wardens, and the university administration’s mismanagement of state grants meant to fund student participation in moot court competitions.
Acting Registrar Ayan Hazra, however, told Scroll.in that the administration had received “just a verbal communication” from students in 2017 regarding library timings and that “nobody followed it up”. He also said the university has a sexual harassment committee and that “since 2003, not a single complaint has been filed”.
“The students of HNLU have lost faith in the incompetent administration of Dr Sukh Pal Singh and his style of arbitrary and discriminatory decision making,” the university student bar association tweeted on Tuesday afternoon. “Therefore, we are skeptical of him being reinstated to the office of the vice chancellor.”
They blamed his indifference towards the institution for the “breakdown of trust between the students and the administration” and listed six reasons why they were opposed to his reinstatement.
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