The vice principal of a prominent Kolkata law college on Friday said she was forced to resign by a group of students after an overnight siege in her office over her decision to enforce the mandatory 70% attendance rule
“I was gheraoed overnight. I was not even allowed to have food and water. I did not resign. I was forced to resign,” Mohammadi Tarannum, vice principal of Surendranath Law College, told reporters before leaving the campus.
Established by the British as Ripon College, the institution was renamed after national leader and educationist Surendranath Banerjea, who was popularly called "Rashtraguru" (teacher of the nation).
Her resignation letter - addressed to Calcutta University vice-chancellor Ashutosh Ghosh and circulated by the protesting students - cited her decision due to “certain unavoidable family, health-related and personal issues”.
The protesters were demanding that she allow students with less than 70% attendance to appear for the examination. According to them, 29 of 730-odd students had been barred from appearing in the examination because of low attendance.
Tarannum said the bar council rules don’t allow people with less than 70% attendance to sit for law examinations. She added that Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Kaustav Bagchi, who is also president of the college governing body, told her to allow students with up to 40% attendance, but she declined.
{{/usCountry}}Tarannum said the bar council rules don’t allow people with less than 70% attendance to sit for law examinations. She added that Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Kaustav Bagchi, who is also president of the college governing body, told her to allow students with up to 40% attendance, but she declined.
{{/usCountry}}She also complained that she was being branded as a Leftist. “It is being alleged that I am a Leftist. Yes, I was a Left leader, but I resigned in 2016. I have no political affiliation since then. I even voted for the BJP in the recent assembly polls, hoping that it would bring some change. I want to bring this incident to the notice of the government,” she said.
Bagchi claimed he recommended the relaxation because the college’s administrative machinery of tracking attendance was flawed.
“Even the Supreme Court has said in a judgement that 70% attendance is mandatory. In certain circumstances we may offer a 5% relaxation. But the problem at Surendranath Law College is that attendance was not recorded properly. There is no attendance register. How can the attendance rules be enforced under such circumstances?” he claimed.