NLU Odisha administration accuses students of 'arm-twisting', calls protests 'illegal'

The administration of National Law University, Odisha (NLU Odisha) has released an official statement on the ongoing student protest that was launched yesterday. .The statement comes in response to the indefinite protest by the students who have accused the administration of failing to address long-standing concerns and penalising students who have voiced grievances."It is usually believed that students are always right and the administration is always lacking. In this case, it is a clear case when the students of NLUO have decided to pressurise the University to give in to their illegal, unlawful, and unreasonable demand of setting aside the evaluation for tutorial classes by choosing to protest at the time of very crucial events of the University," the administration has said in response to the protests..The NLU Odisha administration has stated that the root cause of the protest stems from the Academic Council's decision to evaluate tutorial classes, which has been met with discontent by the studentsVice-Chancellor Prof Ved Kumari stated that her position did not allow her to overrule the decision, but the matter would be placed in front of the next Academic Council.."The unreasonable and malafide nature of their protest is manifested in their actions yesterday. After the Registrar, Chief Warden, and Controller of exam on behalf of the Vice Chancellor agreed to take two interim measures of suspending evaluation till the next Academic Council meeting and partial opening of the Academic Block to which the members of the Student Council agree to stop the protest, and the Vice Chancellor agreed to meet them, they backtracked and started asking for acceptance of more demands by the Vice Chancellor including an open ended GBM," the statement reads..The University dismissed the grievances raised by the students concerning infrastructure, library access and mental health facilities and said that these have been either been previously addressed or were in the process of being resolved.In its response, the administration claimed that the formal protest notice did not provide sufficient notice to address grievances, and has called the protest an unlawful one with mala-fide intent.Further, the University claims that the protest was timed to disrupt upcoming events. The protest clashes with the 3rd Annual Flower Show and a Review Commission visit.The NLU Odisha administration has also questioned the legitimacy of the Student Council sans elections and alleged that a few members resigned due to internal pressures..The administration maintains that it is open to dialogue but will engage with students after the University's upcoming events are concluded. .Meanwhile, the NLU Odisha Student Council is continuing the protest and has sent a list of demands to the administration. These include infrastructure and financial transparency, removal of arbitrary evaluation, transparent academic policies, improved grievance redressal mechanisms, examination reforms, better faculty and curriculum standards, and access to academic blocks at all times.