High Court issues notice to National Law University.

Source – thehindu.com

The Delhi High Court has issued notice to the National Law University, Delhi (NLUD) on a petition seeking removal of Prof. G.S. Bajpai, Registrar of NLUD, alleging misconduct, abuse of public office and nepotism.

A Bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice C. Hari Shankar also sought response from Mr. Bajpai and other officials of the university on the plea which has also alleged arbitrary exercise of power with respect to admissions and appointments in the university.

The petition by Ashok Kumar Jain and Nitish Bharadwaj pointed out that in 2011, while serving the National Law Institute University, Bhopal, as professor, Mr. Bajpai was accused of serious misconducts and subsequently removed.

It alleged that in 2011-12, the V-C of NLUD appointed Mr. Bajpai as professor without following any process for public appointment. It said neither any advertisement was issued, nor any selection committee was established for this appointment. “In 2013 the professorship of Mr. Bajpai who does not hold any law degree and was ineligible to hold any post of law teacher in India was regularised by the Vice-Chancellor,” the plea said.

Mr. Bajpai was appointed to the post of Registrar of NLUD next year. The statutory prescription for the post of Registrar mandates that the appointee must be a Professor of Law.

“Respondent No. 2 [Mr. Bajpai], possessing Bachelor’s in Science, Master’s in Arts, and a Ph.D, is neither a Professor in Law nor possesses any law degree [LLM/PhD in Law] to hold the post of registrar at the NLUD,” the petitioners said. The appointment of Mr. Bajpai as Registrar is in violation of Section 21 of the National Law University Act, 2007, the plea said.

The plea also alleged that since his appointment as the Registrar, Mr. Bajpai has “arbitrarily used his power and violated the rule of law to cause bestowal of benefits to his relatives and acquaintances showing nepotism and favoritism as the only modus operandi”.

Earlier this year, Mr. Bhardwaj had submitted representations to Chief Justice of India, Chief Justice of High Court of Delhi and others, requesting them to take actions against illegal appointments of Mr. Bajpai. However, no action has been taken by any authority against the abuse of public offices and illegal appointments and admission, till date, the plea said.