The Vice-Chancellor of National Law University Tripura (NLUT), Prof. Yogesh Pratap Singh, has defended the appointment of Dr. Jayanta Dhar as the Registrar in-charge, asserting that the process adhered to proper procedures. He has also suggested that a recent letter from students expressing concerns about governance and safety was possibly influenced by the former Registrar, Prof. Nachiketa Mittal, who resigned amidst allegations of sexual harassment.
Prof. Mittal stepped down in May following an anonymous complaint of inappropriate behavior submitted to the Tripura State Human Rights Commission (TSHRC). Prof. Singh noted that the university’s Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) could not initiate investigations due to a lack of formal complaints. After Mittal’s resignation on May 4, the Assistant Registrar temporarily assumed his responsibilities. During this interim period, consultation with the State’s higher education department led to the recommendation of appointing the senior-most faculty member available. Consequently, Dr. Dhar was appointed as in-charge Registrar on May 26, with formal approval from the State government secured by June 3.
Prof. Singh justified Dr. Dhar’s appointment, despite his role as an assistant professor, by explaining that the university did not have a professor on its faculty and the State government was unable to provide an officer to fill the position. “While usually an assistant professor is not appointed to such a role, we had no other option,” Singh explained. He assured that efforts are underway to appoint a regular registrar.
Addressing the students’ contention that their complaint was unrelated to Prof. Mittal, Prof. Singh maintained that Mittal had been in Agartala recently, engaging with students, and possibly influencing the drafting of the letter. He plans to communicate these developments to the Chancellor, Justice MS Ramachandra Rao.
In their letter dated September 14, students highlighted several administrative and safety issues on campus. They reported incidents such as venomous snakes being found in the Girls Hostel and claimed that remedial measures were not taken. Other grievances included the non-anonymization of answer scripts, withholding of evaluated scripts, absence of a grievance mechanism under Section 16(ix) of the NLUT Act, and financial disclosures not meeting the Right to Information (RTI) Act standards.
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Responding to these issues, Prof. Singh clarified that the university allows a two-week period for students to collect evaluated answer scripts, which some students miss, prompting an extension of the collection window to three or four weeks. Regarding the claim about absent faculty, Singh noted that NLUT will only complete three years in November 2026, and that all regular faculty comply with attendance protocols while visiting faculty conduct sessions online or in person.
Regarding financial disclosures, Singh mentioned that initial publications were retracted due to typographical errors but will soon be corrected and republished. He emphasized that a detailed response to the students’ concerns is being prepared, and he plans to engage with students directly to address their issues.
Students also questioned the functioning of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) Act. Prof. Singh assured that the ICC has been operational since NLUT’s inception, with relevant information available on the university’s website. While the NLUT Act does not mandate a student consultative committee, Singh suggested the potential establishment of a student representative body to facilitate direct communication with university administration.
