Bombay high court notice to varsity, Maharashtra government on Nalanda Law College issue

The Bombay high court on Tuesday issued notice to the state govt, chairman of Nalanda Law College and the Mumbai University after hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by former journalist Ketan Tirodkar highlighting the plight of around 60 students who are alleged to have been duped by the college.

According to the PIL, the college, by not reserving first year law seats for them, had cheated the students who had paid Rs 22,000 to Rs 44,000 in the offline admission process. These students have also registered a case against the college at the Borivli police station.

The PIL seeks directive to the university to set up a mechanism to check such anomalies that could ruin a crucial academic year of students as also the hard-earned money of their parents.

The PIL says the chairman of the college was a Maharashtra cabinet minister for many years. At present, he is a Nationalist Congress Party MLA. It's alleged that one Anil Mahajan, claiming to be secretary to home minister RR Patil, had instructed a senior police inspector of Borivli police station not to entertain any complaint against the college management. This was the reason why the registration of FIR had been delayed. It's also alleged that though an FIR had been registered, there was no further action due to continued pressure.

The PIL further prays that the students be allowed to appear for the first year exams; the state be directed to bring in a mechanism that dissuades from and penalizes college administrations, managements and the Mumbai varsity for failing to own up responsibility in such cases.