The Jharkhand High Court criticized the state government on Friday, February 29, 2020, because it did not provide regular funding to the Ranchi-based National University of Study and Research in Law (NUSRL) observing that the “government should shut down the varsity if it doesn’t want to run it.”
Chief justice Ravi Ranjan and justice Sujit Narayan Prasad said the government’s indifference to the premier institution was difficult to understand.
It called the chief secretary and finance and building construction departments’ secretaries and asked them to personally attend the next hearing on March 6 to explain the government’s inaction.
The High Court judge heard the Public Interest Litigation (PIL), and under the NUSRL Act, the state governments, bar associations, bar council, etc. should provide financial assistance to universities.
“The government can’t deny from extending financial support to the institution university. Worse, it charges electricity bill from the institution for the street lights which the government had set up on the varsity campus and adjoining areas. The government can behave like this with such a reputed institution,” the bench said.
The state government had also approved a one-time grant of Rs 500 crore to the university. It said that according to the cabinet’s decision, the government would no longer provide any grants.
HC observations:
- Court summons chief secretary, finance and building construction secretaries
- Govt is slapping electricity bills for street lights
- Govt’s apathy towards this premiere institution is beyond imagination
- Govt has to follow the laws
NUSRL has its own campus in Ranchi’s Kanke area and the institution is facing funding constraints to build more infrastructure for much-needed students.
