Buildings illegal, no affiliation: Lawlessness rules Kerala Law Academy

As the agitation against Kerala Law Academy rages on, Thiruvananthapuram Corporation officials have found that the Academy illegally built numerous buildings including flats in the 11 acres of land assigned by the government without even fixing lease amount! 

The Corporation officials 'realised' that many buildings in the Law Academy campus had not obtained required permissions only when the Academy director N Narayanan Nair approached them seeking a change in the occupancy of a building to convert it as a canteen. When the Corporation checked old documents, they found that the building in question had not obtained mandatory registration.

There are reports that the Academy had no affiliation with Kerala University. The University 'failed' to find any records of giving affiliation to the Academy. Vincent Panikkulangara, who led a legal battle against the Law Academy in 1982, stated that it was useless to search for the affiliation records in the University for the institute had not even applied for it, he revealed. 

The state government gave away 11.49 cent public land to the Academy without fixing rent/ lease in 1968. The Academy was allotted the land as the then Left government claimed that it was not a private institution. The Governor and Chief Minister are the chief patron and patron of the Academy respectively. Revenue Minister, Education Minister and three High Court Judges are in the governing council, MN Govindan Nair, the then Agriculture Minister, told Kerala Assembly in 1968. 

Kerala Law Academy Website also tells the same story.   M N Govindan Nair, who was the Minister for Agriculture then, took a keen interest, and the request for land was granted, it said.  "E M S Namboodiripad, who was the Chief Minister, K R  Gowri and C H Mohammed Koya, who were ministers in charge of Revenue and Education respectively, were also very helpful in this regard. The Academy took possession of the land and buildings on 30th February 1968. The lease, which was initially for three years was extended to thirty years in 1976, and the land was assigned to Kerala Law Academy in 1985." 

Though the Left government claimed that it was not a private institute, it is no secret that the Academy was run by the kith and kin of director and founder N Narayanan Nair, whose daughter Lakshmi Nair is the present principal. It is alleged that Nair and her family are living in the flat built on the campus.  Lakshmi Nair, who challenged the government to take action, said that the Academy was a private institute and the government had no jurisdiction to remove her. 

Now, the BJP, which is in the forefront of the agitation against the Law Academy, is demanding that the land assigned to the institute should be taken back.Former Chief Minister and CPM leader VS Achuthanandan also demanded the land assignment to the academy should be revoked. Subsequently, the Revenue Department on Tuesday ordered the Revenue Secretary to make an inquiry into the complaints.

Meanwhile, the student protest outside campus continued on the 21st day on Tuesday after the talks failed on Monday evening. Though there were reports that Lakshmi Nair might resign under pressure, she remained adamant throughout the negotiations and refused to budge.  

• Kerala Law Academy
• Laskmi Nair
• LDF
• BJP
• student agitation
• Kerala University
• Law Academy agitation