Even as Bar Council of India (BCI) withdrew within hours its order that would have harmed the careers of all graduating students of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, for their alleged campus opposition to Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant’s proposed participation in the convocation, it has drawn rebuke from the top judge.
“They [students] have a right to protest. Who can stop them,” said the CJI on Friday, August 14, while heading a bench that had Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana alongside him. “It is a dialogue between me and students. Who are they (BCI) to interfere?” he asked.
Also read: 34 stabs in 40 seconds: Faridabad woman teacher’s murder on school premises raises many questions
In an unprecedented order issued on Thursday, August 13, BCI had asked all state bar councils not to enrol any student graduating this year from NALSAR following media reports of the campus campaign by some students of the varsity. BCI, which is the apex regulator of legal education and practice in the country, faced massive criticism from several quarters and withdrew that order later in the day.
BCI’s order had come from its chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra, who is also a BJP Rajya Sabha member. “Until further orders, no student of NALSAR University of Law, who has obtained the Law Degree in the year 2026, shall be enrolled by any State Bar Council as an Advocate,” it said.
After a nationwide furore over this order, Mishra passed a fresh order “modifying” the earlier one. “All the students will be entitled to get enrolled with the State Bar Councils of their choice,” the second order said.
Some students of NALSAR University of Law had reportedly campaigned and prevailed upon the vice-chancellor and other officials against inviting Justice Kant to the convocation. Their argument was that the way Justice Kant viewed petitions seeking action against security forces for their alleged excesses against the Jantar Mantar protesters was against sensible principles in a democracy.
Also read: 29 years ago, Dharmendra Pradhan protested against a paper leak in Odisha, got beaten up by police
BCI’s first order, seen by many as an unwarranted crackdown, had drawn the sharpest criticism from Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), an organisation whose origin lay in a controversial statement by Justice Kant in May. Protests led by CJP at Jantar Mantar in Delhi in July had forced the Narendra Modi government to ensure Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns.
“What if all legal cockroaches come together?” CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke wrote on X, indicating that BCI’s order, if not withdrawn immediately, may lead to another Gen Z protest.
In May, Justice Kant was quoted as comparing to “cockroaches” and “parasites” those young people who he said entered different professions with questionable credentials and turned into social media or RTI activists. He later said his comments were aimed solely at people having fake degrees.
Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) recently put off its convocation, which Justice Kant was scheduled to attend. The postponement came following reports that Justice Kant’s presence on the campus could lead to student protests.
Also read: Cow priority: Doctor assaulted after his car hits stray cow in UP’s Badaun; 4 people arrested
