The Objective in this case is twofold :

1. Why is the maven build command not working.
2. Is this the right way to submit a Pull Request

The Objective in this case is twofold :

1. Why is the maven build command not working.

It fails because tests are failing. Failing tests mean that your changes caused something that the tests did not expect. In this case, one of the problems is that it is almost never a good idea to catch null pointer exceptions. If something can be null, it should be checked if it is null before it is referenced.

2. Is this the right way to submit a Pull Request

Yes, this is the right way to submit a pull request, though it is usually preferred that before you submit a pull request you confirm locally that the tests pass. If you don't understand a test failure, it is OK to submit a failing test accompanied by a comment that notes the test is failing. That note should also clarify what you've tried while exploring the failing test.

Thanks a lot , In the next PR, I shall make sure all the tests pass locally.