NLS: A law school short on freedom?

Bengaluru: Is April 11 going to be the day of reckoning at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) Bengaluru when law students lose their privilege to wear what they want on campus?

On Wednesday, April 5, third year female students as well as their male classmates wore derriere-skimming shorts to their classrooms at the prestigious National Law School campus in the city.

A fashion statement? No, it was a mass protest against alleged derogatory remarks made by a Law School professor, who turned a tirade against a female student’s choice of clothing into a diatribe on her lifestyle choices, maligning her and virtually the entire class.

Unlike other colleges in the city where a strict dress code is in place — Christ College has banned jeans from the campus — the NLSUI, has no dress code. The girl student claims she tried to reason with the Professor, but was met with more of the same.

On campus on Saturday morning, students told Deccan Chronicle that they wanted their ‘No Dress Code’ culture to continue and would press for the management to come down on the professor who had made “derogatory comments” about their class fellow.

Judge and Jury

The Vice Chancellor Dr. R. Venkata Rao has called for a faculty meeting on April 11 to discuss the face-off between the professor and a third year female student where it is alleged that the professor not only publicly shamed the student for the clothes she chose to wear, but also cast aspersions on the student’s character for voicing her concerns about his derogatory remarks. The third year BA-LLB (Honours) student had worn a ‘shorts’ to attend Professor V. Nagaraj's lecture on April 4.