Following a week of protests by students of Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU) in Raipur, the High Court of Chhattisgarh on Monday asked its vice-chancellor, Professor Sukh Pal Singh, to resign.
The students of HNLU had been on strike over the past eight days and the university's functioning was paralysed as over 800 students signed a 'no-confidence' memorandum against the vice-chancellor, seeking his resignation.
The Student’s Bar Council, which had been leading the protests, had alleged that Sukh Pal Singh was involved in financial irregularities and was shielding some teachers accused of sexual harassment.
Sukh Pal Singh continued to function as the head of HNLU after a Chhattisgarh High Court order to quash his term extension was stayed by the Supreme Court. Sukh Pal Singh's original tenure ended in 2014, but he had been continuing on extension since then. Sukh Pal Singh's original tenure was for five years, but he remained vice-chancellor for over eight years.
Earlier, students were agitated after no action was taken following complaints of sexual harassment against a professor who was allegedly being shielded by Sukh Pal Singh. According to Student Bar Council member Akash Jain, the sexual harassment issue was brushed aside. Sukh Pal Singh was also accused of financial irregularities. The Student Bar Council even released a list of accounts of Rs 98 crore, which was supposed to be used for the welfare of the students but was used at other places.
However, Monday evening brought much relief to students when Sukh Pal Singh was summoned to the High Court of Chhattisgarh to meet Chief Justice A.K. Tripathi, who is also chancellor of HNLU. Sukh Pal Singh was asked to submit his resignation. However, Ayan Hazra, in-charge registrar of HNLU, told mediapersons that Sukh Pal Singh had submitted his resignation, which was accepted by Tripathi.
