Last year, I nudged my alma mater, West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata (NUJS) and other National Law Universities (NLUs) to embrace transparency in administrative, academic and financial matters. In combination with the Student Juridical Association’s (SJA) tenacious efforts, partial success was achieved at NUJS when students gained access to minutes of many meetings of various councils and committees. Similar efforts launched by the students at the Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala (RGNUL) led to incremental success. But old habits die hard for NLUs’ administrators.
Previously, intrepid investigation by NUJS students and my RTIs resulted in shocking exposes of a multi-crore financial embezzlement; crores of overpayment to data entry officers as also refunds to the University Grants Commission (UGC); Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (FCRA) violations; pervasive institutional cover-up of violations of UGC rules governing distance education and unpaid GST; allegations of grave irregularities in faculty recruitment; and lack of Bar Council of India affiliation since 2011-12 academic session.
I had recently filed fresh RTIs to NUJS, foolishly hoping that after a change in the VC and a rap from the West Bengal State Information Commission (WBIC) (leading to change in the public information officer), things would improve.
The present NUJS PIO pleads helplessness in providing the information sought in my RTIs since she has no independent access to the records that are under the direct control of the vice chancellor, N.K. Chakrabarti; registrar Sen; and relevant others. This is not an uncommon reality and my RTIs perhaps ask the inconvenient questions that the various inquiry committees set up by NUJS’ Executive Council (EC) should have asked but likely avoided.
Given NUJS’ chequered track record of mothballing inquiries initiated by the Executive Council during 2018 and 2019, including the one against registrar Sen and former PIO, Pritwish Sen, scant respect for WBIC and clear support from higher authorities to frustrate RTIs, the incremental gains previously secured by the SJA appear to be dissipating rapidly.
National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata. Photo: NUJS website
The tale of RGNUL
In my earlier piece, I had underlined how the RGNUL PIO tried to frustrate my plea for recent RGNUL Executive Council meetings’ minutes with the usual “voluminous” spiel and that records can be physically inspected.
After receiving a similar response to another RTI, I appealed to the FAA/registrar, Naresh Kumar Vats; and as before, he yet again asked me to appear in-person. I explained to him how the Supreme Court has consistently underlined that procedure is the handmaiden to justice and the importance of leveraging technology to facilitate dispensation of justice.
Although Vats agreed to allow me to appear through video conference (back in September 2019), I was disappointed with the outcome. During the hearing, Vats never denied my contention that the minutes of the Executive Council meetings sought clearly exist in a computerised format. When the information sought exists in digitised form, access thereto cannot be denied by RGNUL under the RTI Act. A few days later, RGNUL even agreed to prospectively publish university bodies’ minutes on their website. But before that could sink in, RGNUL was back to its old tricks.
While my RTI to RGNUL did not yield satisfactory responses, it did uncover that tainted former administrative officer, captain S.P. Singh had resigned during the pendency of an inquiry instituted by RGNUL’s Chancellor (and chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana high court) against him. The inquiry came through only because of students’ tenacity. Yet, even today the RGNUL students have no visibility on the whereabouts of the inquiry report. Both RGNUL and the high court have since stonewalled my RTIs seeking the inquiry report. Working in tandem, they both seem to claim that they do not have/ cannot provide a copy of the report! RGNUL has outrightly denied having a copy of the enquiry report before the Punjab State Information Commission, while my appeal impugning the high court PIO’s creative skirting is pending before the Central Information Commission.
On the brighter side, other institutions such as the Accountant General (Audit) Punjab were much more transparent – which was reportedly followed by RGNUL coming under Punjab government’s scanner.
Also Read: Uncloaking the Rule of Opacity in National Law Universities
Opacity addiction of NLU administrators
I am convinced that both NUJS and RGNUL authorities are well aware of their duty to proactively disclose under RTI Act, 2005. But their opacity addiction is so strong that they routinely and systematically invent spurious excuses such as the information sought being voluminous; unavailable in digitised form and how their ability to digitise records is constrained by resource constraints! To complete this cheeky frustration of inconvenient RTIs, all NLUs mischievously offer physical access to the “voluminous”, “non-digitised records”, fully smug in the knowledge that intimidated students would stay away; and the logistical and procedural capriciousness would keep “nosy outsiders” such as me at bay too.
Yet another trick by many NLUs is to not declare or complicate the RTI fee payment process thereby laying a trap for RTI applications to be declined on “technical grounds” such as “incorrect payee details” or “fee not received in appropriate account”.
The Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law. Photo: rgnul.in
Hope floats
Although NLU administrators and their acolytes criticise students’ demands for transparency for crossing (self-serving) laxman rekhas, this “extra-legal league of extraordinary gentlemen” has ensured that for 15 years (and counting), the so-called islands of excellence administered by them remain untouched by the disinfecting sunlight of RTI Act, 2005. The obfuscating and dilatory tactics of NUJS and RGNUL administrations worryingly expose their unabated patronage of entrenched corrupt interests.
However, I draw hope from the incremental steps taken by the Supreme Court and various high courts, including Madras and Gujarat, to embrace the spirit of the RTI Act, 2005. Hence, undeterred by the obstinacy of NUJS authorities, I have yet again exercised my right to information.
Arjun Agarwal was elected president of NUJS’ Student Juridical Association for 2016-18, and presently works as an associate at Trilegal, Delhi. All views expressed are personal.