A nine-member committee of Syndicate members of the University of Kerala will, on January 23 and 24, visit the Kerala Law Academy-Law College, here, to carry out a reality check on the complaints raised by students of the college.
This was decided at a meeting of the Syndicate, here, on Saturday. The members of the affiliation committee of the Syndicate will be part of the group that would visit the college. For some time now, the students of the college, cutting across political affiliations, have been on an agitation against the alleged harassment meted out by the management, particularly the college Principal.
A main allegation raised by the agitating students is that the Principal uses the awarding of internal marks for the law courses as a weapon of harassment against the students. The students also accuse the Principal of haughty and high-handed behaviour. There are also allegations that the Principal misbehaved with girl students.
Syndicate member Johnson Abraham told The Hindu that the varsity committee would meet all the stakeholders at the college — the students, parents and the college management. “I understand that the university does not have any documents related to the college including those relating to the affiliation. Our team will also examine all the available documents at the college. We have decided that the committee will submit its report for consideration in the Syndicate meeting scheduled on January 28,” he said.
One Syndicate member who is not part of the varsity committee told The Hindu that the academy was granted 12 acres of land many years ago. Now, a law college only needs three acres. “The government should consider taking over the remaining nine acres of land. The college does not need it now. Nobody has any idea what it is being used for. All we know that it is being seen as the private property of the management,” he added.
The agitating students are now demanding that the college Principal step down, preparatory to a comprehensive investigation into the alleged misdeeds of the management.
