THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STUDENT JURIDICAL ASSOCIATION THE WEST BENGAL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF JURIDICAL SCIENCES key \\%THE STUDENT JURIDICAL ASSOCIATION CONSTITUTION- Contents ‘THE STUDENT JURIDICAL ASSOCIATION CONSTITUTION CONTENTS: ‘The Preamble... ‘The General Provisions. 1) The Student Juric 2) GB Meetings... 3) Activities: . Bae Working of the Executive Committee & Societies... 4) SoCitteS enneniereen ical Association (*SJA’) .. 5) Academie Reforms Committee. 6) Office Beaters. neces 7) Term of the Office Bearers... . 8) Oath of Affirmation of the Office Bearers of the SIA... 9) The President and the Vice-President. 10) The Convener and the Co-Convener... 11) Treasurer of the SJA. 12) The Executive Committee.... 12A) Administrative Secretary of the SJA. at 13) Procedure for impeachment of office bearers or members of the SJA. n 14) Patron... 15) Rules of Business. 16) Finances of the SIA. 17) Disciplinary Action. ‘The Vigilance Commission & the Election Commission, 18) Vigilance Commission. 19) Powers and functions of the Vigil 20) Election Commissio Provisions Regarding Amendments 21) Amendment of the Constitution... Miscellanous. 22) Miscellanous. ... 23) Commencement. ho-THE STUDENT JURIDICAL ASSOCIATION CONSTITUTION The Preamble ‘THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STUDENT JURIDICAL ASSOCIATION The Preamble RECOGNISING the need to develop the varied talents of the Student Body of the NUJS; UNDERSTANDING the need for a formalized structure for building character, personality and respect for one another; cand for PROVIDING the maximum opportunities for every member of the NUJS family to achieve excellence in academic and co-curricular activities WE THE MEMBERS OF THE STUDENT JURIDICAL ASSOCIATION OF THE WEST BENGAL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF JURIDICAL SCIENCES HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION, wrt Ye" aN1) HE STUDENT JURIDICAL ASSOCIATION CONSTITUTION. Part ‘The General Provisions ‘The Student Juri al Association (*SJA’). Every undergraduate student enrolled with the University shall automatically become a member of the SJA. 2 3) a) The entire body of undergraduate students shall constitute the General Body ( “GBY) of the SIA. 'b) The post graduate students shall be deemed to have become associate members of the SJA. Unless expressly prohibited, such students may take part in activities organized by the SJA and may also have the right to vote, but not the right to contest in elections. GB Meetings. a) The GB of the SJA shall ordinarily meet at least twice a semester. If so required, the President of the SJA has the discretion to convene a meeting more than twice a semester under special circumstances. b) Alll the GB meetings shall be presided over by the President, and in his absence, the Vice-President. ©) The quorum for the meeting shall be a minimum of ten percent of the total membership of the GB. If there is no quorum, the meeting shall stand adjourned to the same day, time and place the following week. No quorum is necessary for the next meeting, 4) The President of the SJA shall issue notice of the meeting of the GB at least twenty four hours in advance. Questions arising at a me provided, shall be decided by si i, unless otherwise iple majority of votes. Activities, ‘The “activities” of the SJA means and includes all curricular, co-curriculars, extra- curriculars and competitions involving students of the University wePART II Working of the Executive Committee & Societies 4) Societies. a) For the purpose of carrying out the activities of the SJA the following societies will exist i) Cultural Committee i) Cyber Committee iii) Informal Discussion Group iv) Journal of Indian Law and Society y)_Law and Contemporary Affairs Society vi) Literary and Debating Society vii) Magazine Committee viii)Model United Nations Society ix) Moot Court Society x) Society for Advancement of Criminal Justice xi) Society for Environmental Awareness and Activism xii) Sports Committee b) There shall further exist a set of Academic Societies to promote the Academic interests of the SJA. ©) Reconstitution of committees will be mandatorily conducted within the first two weeks of the Monsoon Semester. 4) A person shall not be allowed to be a part of more than two SJA societies at the same time, either in the capacity of a member or an office-bearer. If a person secures a position in more than two SJA societies, he shall resign from all but two of these societies within two weeks of becoming a member of a third SJA society. ) The total number of SJA committees which can be represented in the Executive Committee shall not be more than fifteen. ) The total number of members in any SIA committee cannot exceed five per cent of the total strength of the GB. 8) Societies will have to publish accounts and achievements to the GB at least once in an academic year as a necessary pre-requisite for subsequent reconstitution. werIDENT JURIDICAL ASSOCIATION CONSTITUTION. Part Il- Working of the Executive Committee & Societies ~ Articles 4-6 1h) A society must have been operational for at least one year prior to its induction in the SJA. Further guidelines for induction may be formed by the SIA Executive Committee. i) Motions for induction or removal of a society in the SJA shall be approved by a two- thirds majority of the SIA Executive Committee. Explanation- ‘The Vigilance Commission has the power to enforce provisions of this Article and take appropriate action for non-compliance against any person including derecognition of the committee. 5) Academic Reforms Committee, a) There shall be an Academic Reforms Committee (ARC) under the SJA to examine various academic matters faced by the students. b) The ARC shall publish periodic reports on any academic matters concerning NUJS and make recommendations to the President, Vice-President, the SJA Faculty Advisor and Vice Chancellor. ©) The ARC shall not be part of the Executive Committee and shall not have any voting rights in such meetings. However, ARC members may be invited to attend Executive Committee meetings. 4) The ARC shall be composed of a total of twelve members, including the President and nt, who shall be the only ex-officio members. The other ten members ited by the President, in consultation with the Vice President, There the Vice Pres shall be not shall be an open application based nomination process for the aforementioned ten positions. 6) Office Bearers. ‘The Conveners, Co-Conveners and the Treasurers of all the SIA societies, the SJA ‘Treasurer and Administrative Secretaries of SJA, the Class Representatives, the Vice- President and the President will be the office bearers of the SJA.Part II- Working of the Executive Committee & Societies ~ Articles 6 6A) Class Representative. Each class shall have the right to elect one Class Representative to the Executive Committee. The Class Representative shall represent the interest of his/her Class in the Executive Committee, 7) Term of the Office Bearers. ‘A person can hold only one office in a particular year. The office bearers of the SJA will continue in office till the next set of office bearers is invested. Provided that any office bearer or elected member of the SJA may, by writing under his hand, resign his office in accordance with the procedure laid down in The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (Code of Election Rules), 2008. 8) Oath of Affirmation of the Office Bearers of the SJA. (name of the Office Bearer), having been appointed/ elected/ nominated as the (designation of the Office Bearer), of the Student Juridical Association, do swear in the name of God/ somenly affirm, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the Student Juridical Association and the values which the University upholds, that I will duly and faithfully and to the best of my abilities, knowledge and judgment perform the duties of my office and devote my time for the service and the well-being of the Sudent Body and the University. 9) The President and the Vice-President, ‘There shall be a President and Vice-President of the SJA. a) The President of the SIA shall be the representative of the interests of the SJA, and shall take all decisions on behalf of the SJA in consultation with the Executive Committee. b) The Vice- President shall assist the President in discharging his duties and act on his behalf in his absence or in such case where the Vice- President has been expressly authorized to act on behalf of the President. ©) The President and the Vice President shall be elected from the GB of the SIA. Me 7 {ueIE STUDENT JURIDICAL ASSOCIATION CONSTITUTION: Part IT- Working of the Executive Committee & Societies ~ Articles 9-10 ca) The election of the President and the Vice-President shall take place at least ten days before the commencement of the winter semester examinations. cb) The President and Vice-President shall, however, assume office along with the Conveners/Co-Conveners after the appointment of the same. cc) The President/Vice- President designate shall be allowed to attend the meetings of the previous Executive Committee in an observer capacity. 4) Any member of the GB of the SJA is eligible to apply to contest for the post of either the President or the Vice-President, provided that he/she does not have any serious misdemeanours for which the punitive measures of the Disciplinary Committee will not suffice. The sanction must necessarily be imposed by the Patron of the SJA or the SIA Faculty Advisor in consultation with the Convener of the Disciplinary Committe. i) The application for contesting for the post of the President or the Vice- President shall be screened by the Faculty Advisor of the SJA and the Vice- Chancellor of the University in consultation with the Convenor of Disciplinary ‘Committee. ii) If there is more than one candidate contesting for the same position, an election will be conducted through secret ballot under the supervision of the Election Commission. ©) The President and Vice- President may seck to be re-elected, subject to the provisions of this Constitution. f) The President and the Vice- President shall not be members of any society existing under Article 4(a) of this Constitution. 10) The Convener and the Co-Convener. Every Society shall have only one Convener and one Co-Convener. If a committee wishes to have more than one Co-Convener, the issue will be brought up before the Bo NaeHE STUDENT JURIDICAL ASSOCIATION CONSTITUTION: Part I1- Working of the Executive Committee & Societies ~ Articles 1 7 Executive Committee, and the same shall have to be approved by a two-thirds majority of the Executive Committee . However, only one of such Co-Conveners may exercise voting rights at meetings of the Executive Committee. The Convener and Co-Convener shall be representative of the interests of their respective Society, and shall make decisions regarding all activities of the Society in consultation with the other members of the Society. a) The Co-Convener shall assist the Convener in discharging his duties and act on his behalf in his absence or in such case where the Co-Convener has been expressly authorized to act on behalf of the Convener. b) The Convener and Co-Convener shall be elected from the Society shortly after the constitution of such Society in presence of one member each from the Election ‘Commission and the GB in accordance with the procedure laid down in The West Bengal National University of Juridical Science (Code of Election Rules), 2008. 11) Treasurer of the SJA. a) The SJA will have one Treasurer who will be responsible to the Executive Committee ofthe SJA. b) The Treasurer shall not have voting rights in any decision of the Executive Committee. ©) The Treasurer shall be appointed from the GB of the SJA by the President in consultation with the Vice Pres d) The functions of the Treasurer: i) He shall keep account of all the finances with respect to any SJA activity and periodically report on the account of funds to the respective Faculty Advisors ii) He shall approve and process every voucher for any SIA activity. In the first week of March, the Treasurer will give a consolidated financial rs of the SJA showing the statement to the President and Faculty Adi expenditure of all the societies and surplus, if any. iv) The Treasurer shall discuss with the President, Vice-President and Faculty Advisors, the allocation and utilization of SJA funds periodically and act with their concurrence in this regard,HE STUDENT JURIDICAL ASSOCIATION CONSTITUTION. Part IT- Working of the Executive Commitice & Societies ~ Article T2 12) The Executive Committee. 1a) The Executive Committee shall consist of the President, the Vice-President, the Class Representatives, the Conveners and the Co-Conveners of the various SIA societies and representation from the Academic Committees. The purpose of the Executive Committee is to ensure representation of all SJA societies. ) The Executive Committee shall be the body for taking all decisions on behalf of the SJA and coordinating the activities of the SJA. Every SJA society shall submit its detailed budgetary proposal to the SIA President within five weeks of the commencement of the academic year. Thereafter, the President shall convene the first meeting of the Executive Committee (‘EC Budgetary Meeting’), wherein every committee will be given the opportunity to present its budgetary proposal. After such discussion and deliberation as he may deem fit, the President, in consultation with the Vice President, shall decide the budgetary allocation for the relevant academic year. This will be followed by a second Executive Committee meeting, wherein the President shall be required to elucidate his decisions. Activites for the forthcoming year shall also be scheduled during the second Executive Committee meeting. Provided, the final discretion with regard to budgetary allocation vests with the President and the Vice-President of the SJA. ©) The Executive Committee shall monitor the utilization of funds by the various societies under the SJA. 4) One half of the total membership of the Executive Committee shall form the quorum of the Executive Committee. ¢) The President, and in his absence, the Vice-President will call the meetings of the Executive Committee and preside over them. 4) Unless otherwise provided, the decisions made by the Executive Committee shall be made by simple majority. 8) The Faculty Advisors or other members nominated by the Patron shall have the right to attend the Executive Committee meetings and the President or Vice-President shall send notice along with agenda papers to be discussed in such meetings. h)_ The Executive Comittee members shall be required to attend at least seventy five percent of all Executive Committee and GB meetings conducted during the year, nee ies Fs[es Fart II- Working of the Executive Committee & Societies ~ Art 15 failing which the President may move a motion to expel such members, which shall have to be passed by a two-thirds majority of the Executive Committee, 12A) Administrative Secretary of the SIA. 48) There shall be two Administrative Secretaries of the SJA. b) The Administrative Secretaries shall be responsible for maintaining the minutes ‘of SJA meetings and proceedings and for filing of SJA correspondence. ©) The procedure for selection of the Administrative Secretary would be the same as that of the Treasurer. 13) Procedure for impeachment of office bearers or members of the SJA. ‘The procedure for impeachment of office bearers or members of the SJA will be undertaken in accordance with the The West Bengal National University Juridical Sciences (Code of Ele down therein, Rules), 2008 and the procudeure 14) Patron. ‘The Vice- Chancellor of the University shall be the Patron of the SJA and will have the final authority to validate or invalidate the decisions of the Executive Committee or the GB of the SJA. All questions or disputes as to the erpretation of this Constitution would be referred to the Patron. 15) Rules of Business. a) Rules of business for SJA Societies (i) Soon after the constitution of the SJA societies and election of the Convener and the Co-Convener, the respective Societies shall prepare a list of the activities for the entire academic year. ‘A budget, reasonable and commensurate with the activities proposed, has to be prepared by the societies in consultation with the respective Faculty Advisor of the society. ‘The activity list along with the budget proposed shall be presented in a Executive Committee meeting wherein the various members shall vote on the eee allocation of the SJA Budget to various societies.ION CONSTITUTION: Part IT Working of the Executive Article 13 b) Rules of Business for Academic Societies: (9 Soon after the constitution of the Academic societies and election of their representatives, the respective societies shall prepare a list of the activities for the entire academic year. (ii) The tentative activity schedule of the Academic Societies shall be presented to the Executive Committee through their representatives. (iii) The budget of the Academic Societies will be directly granted by the University outside of the SIA Budget and hence the budgets of these societies have to be presented to the respective Faculty Advisors as per their direction and guidance. (iv) It shall be the funetion of the Convener of every Society to furnish: (1) A monthly report of the activities organized by the Society to the Executive ‘Committee, through the representatives of the Society. 2) An annual consolidated report of the activities organized by the Society in the centire year in the first week of March every year. ©) Selection of University Teams: (The various teams representing the University would have to be ordinarily selected within two months of the constitution of the various societies. (ii) The Respective Societies in-charge of those teams shall fix criteria and selection procedure at the beginning of the year. The representation policy shall also be decided at the same time. ‘Once the decision is made, the procedure of selection shall be intimated to the GB. (ii) The teams once selected will continue to function until the next teams are selected, (iv) Nothing in this Article would affect the calendar that would be adopted by the Moot Court Society for its various teams. (¥)_ Results of the selections should be submitted to the GB within seven days of the completion of the event. — 2‘STUDENT JURIDICAL ASSOCIATION CONSTITUTION: Part IT- Working of the Executive Committee & Societies ~ Articles Tt 7 16) Finances of the SJA. a) Finance of the SJA Societies. () The SJA Societies will spend the funds in accordance with the budget proposed in the beginning of each academic year. (i It shall be the function of every Convener of the Society to furnish an annual consolidated report of the accounts of the society on the first week of March every year. b) Finances of the Academic Societies. (W) The Academic Societies will make a request for funds or each activity to be conducted by them to the University through their respective Faculty Advisors. ii) On approval of the activity, they will draw funds and submit a consolidated report to the Executive Committee, through the Treasurer, on completion of the activity. 17) Disciplinary Action. a) A Show-Cause Notice may be issued by the Convener of a Society against any ‘member or volunteer for that society upon the violation or non-compliance of any duty direction given to such member or volunteer of the Society. b) Upon recipient of a written reply, the Convener and the other members of the Society shall determine as to whether there has taken place a non-compliance of a direction or a breach of duty. Such decision must be taken after taking cognizance ofall the relevant facts and circumstances. ©) The decision mentioned in Article 17(b) shall be referred to the Executive ‘Committee for its consideration and the Executive Committee shall determine the ‘measures to be taken in this matter. 4) The Show-Cause notice, against any Convener for any breach of duty by him shall be issued only by the President, and in such case, the Executive Committee shall decide on the matter after taking cognizance of all relevant facts and circumstances, ©) A Show-Cause notice, against any person who is not a member of the SJA or a volunteer to the society can be ordinarily issued only by the President. yee 31 STUDENT JURIDICAL ASSOCIATION CONSTITUI The Vigilance Commission & the Election Commission PART III The Vigilance Commission & the Election Commission 18) Vigilance Commission. a) From such date as notified by the President, there shall be a student Vi Grievance Redressal Commission comprising of the following members- ( Nominee of the SJA President (ex-officio Chairperson) ii) Nominee of the SJA Vice President (ii) Nominee of the faculty advisor of SIA (iv)The candidate who has received the second highest number of votes in the election of the President or his nominee (¥) The candidate who has received the second highest number of votes in the election of the Vice President or his nominee Provided that the candidate should receive at least ten percent of the total votes polled to become part of the Vigilance Commission, Provided further that no member of the Vii lance Commission shall hold any other position or office in the SJA or any SJA committee. b) The Vigilance Commission shall be responsible to the Executive Committee, faculty advisor and Vice Chancellor and shall submit such periodic reports to the Vice Chancellor and GB as may be necessary. ©) The formation of the Vigilance Commission shall not be deemed Walid merely because of vacancy of any position mention in sub-clause (1). 4) The procedure for removal of any member of the Vigilance Commission shall be the same as that of the President, 19) Powers and functions of the Vigilance Commission. a) The Vigilance Commission shall perform the following functions- u[HE STUDENT JURIDICAL ASSOCIATION CONSTITUTION: The Vigilance Commission & the Election Commission Part I cle 19 (® Scrutinise receipts, expenditure and accounts of the SJA and all committees/societies which are part of the SJA. Explanation. (1) It shall be the duty of each society to submit a copy of all bills of expenses and receipts to the Vigilance Commission, (in addition to submission of bills and accounts to the University authorities) at least two weeks prior to the commencement of every end semester examination. (2) Non submission of bills and accounts to the Vigilance Commission shall result in deduction of five percent of the total sanctioned budget of the defaulting society for the next semester. Gi Deal with any complaints regarding arbitrary selection of members of any committee, event or competition. (iii) Deal with any complaints regarding non-compliance of any rules or regulations by any committee. b) On receipt of complaint of misappropriation of funds, financial mismanagement, arbitrary selection procedure or non-compliance of rules and regulations from any member of the GB, the Vigilance Commission may- (i) issue show-cause notice to any member or office-bearer of any committee or to any other person, Gii)_conduct inquiry after following due process and principles of natural justice. (i i) pass any order that it deems fit in the interest of the student body including removal of members from any committee, barring any member from participation SJA activities, derecognition of any committee or society, recommending the University to institute further action against erring members. Explanation- Nothing contained in this clause shall bar the Vigilance Commission from taking suo motu action against any student, Further, the Vigilance Commission shall receive anonymous complaints and make provisions to protect the identity of the complainant if so required under the given circumstances. ©) Any action taken by the Vigilance Commission has to be ratified by the faculty advisor of SJA. The faculty advisor may refuse to give effect to any decision of the Vigilance Commission and return the same for reconsideration. wee asHE STUDENT JURIDICAL ASSOCIATION CONSTITUTION: The Vigilance Commission & the Election Commission ~ Articles 19-20 Part IV ~ Provisions Regarding Amendments ~ Article 21 ion by consensus send the same decision again to the faculty advisor, the faculty advisor is bound to accept and ratify such jion of the Vigilance Commission shall lie to the Vice Chancellor. The Vice Chancellor shall at his sole discretion admit and hear any °) such appeal and pass any such order as may be necessary in the interests of natural justice, £) Nothing contained in any other provision of the SJA Constitution or other rules and regulations shall be interpreted to curtail the powers of the Vigilance Commission. 2) The Vigilance Commission has the power to fiame its own rules and regulations ‘not inconsistent with provisions of this Constitution for the conduct of its business. Such rules have to be notified to the GB. 20) Election Commission An Election Commission shall be constituted to conduct the election of Class Representatives, Vice President, President, Mess Committee, Disciplinary Committee and the Hostel Welfare Committee for each academic year. The committee shall include 2 representatives fiom every batch except the first year batch who shall have 1 representative on the commission. PART IV Provisions Regarding Amendments 21) Amendment of the Constitution. a) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, any member of the Executive Committee of the SJA can bring a motion of amendment of the present Constitution of SJA and such motion shall be given in writing to the President, eo he 16Part IV — Provisions Regarding Amendments — Article 21 Part V~ Miscellanous ~ Articles 22 - 23 b) The Executive Committee of the SJA shall take up the issue in the meeting. ©) When the motion is passed by two-thirds majority of the total membership of the Executive Committe, it shall be placed before the GB. d) The GB afer its consideration of the motion shall reject it by a majority vote of not less than half of its members, failing which the motion stands. 2) Such motion as approved by the GB shall be present to the Patron, on whose assent the Constitution of the SJA shall stand amended the accordance term of the motion. PART V Miscellanous. 22) Miscellanous. 1) Unless otherwise specified, the terms notice, notified and other grammatical variations shall include notice sent by electronic mail to the stipulated Google Groups of various batches. Communication by means of electronic mail shall be treated as a valid mode of correspondence for the purpose of this Constitution. b) The President has power to issue such rules, regulations or notifications not inconsistent with provisions of this Constitution. 23) Commencement. This Constitution of the SJA shall come into force on such date when it receives the assent of the Patron of the SJA. ‘The earlier Constitution thus stands repealed, wat v