'BCI has no business, who are they...': CJI Kant slams bar body for barring NALSAR students, defends their right to protest

The Supreme Court on Friday stepped in after the Bar Council of India (BCI) moved against an entire batch of law graduates from NALSAR Hyderabad over their protest against Chief Justice of India Surya Kant’s invitation to their convocation.

The issue came before a bench headed by CJI Surya Kant after Senior Advocate K Parameshwar mentioned the matter. By the time the hearing took place, the BCI had withdrawn its order preventing the 2026 batch from enrolling as advocates.

However, the Supreme Court issued notice and directed that no disciplinary or punitive measures be taken against students, faculty members or any national law university in connection with the controversy, according to Bar and Bench.

CJI Surya Kant strongly criticised the BCI’s intervention, saying students had the right to express disagreement, even if their views were considered incorrect.

"Naturally, this is absolutely uncalled for. It's a dialogue between students and me. Who are they to raise an issue? This is totally uncalled for. In my student days I have been actively involved in student activities. Assuming even if they are wrong they have a right to protest. BCI doesn't have any business," he said.

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Senior Advocate K Parameshwar also told the court that the regulator should not interfere in internal university matters.

"BCI has no business of what's going on in a university," he said.

The court recorded that the BCI had withdrawn its earlier communication and ordered that no action be taken against NALSAR students over the issue.

"Issue notice. Meanwhile, no punitive action shall be taken against students or faculty of any national law university/law university. BCI accepts notice. Pending circular has been withdrawn. Be that as it may let counter affidavit may be filed within 2 weeks. No punitive action to be taken against students of NALSAR in respect of the incidents mentioned in the subject letters," the court said.

The CJI also encouraged the students to continue their legal careers and invited them to join the Supreme Court Bar.

How the controversy started

The dispute began after around 70 students from NALSAR’s graduating batch of 2026 objected to CJI Surya Kant being invited as the chief guest for their convocation ceremony.

The students raised concerns over his remarks during a hearing involving allegations of police excesses against protesters at Jantar Mantar.

During the July 22 proceedings, a lawyer seeking urgent hearing on the matter was told by the CJI, "Don't waste our time, and don't waste your time."

When the lawyer offered to show videos allegedly documenting police action, the CJI responded, "We are not interested in videos; we don't have time to watch."

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The students argued that they were uncomfortable receiving their degrees from a chief guest whose remarks, according to them, appeared dismissive of allegations involving police action against citizens.

The protest gained further support, with around 380 students from subsequent batches joining the campaign.

BCI withdraws enrolment restriction

Following the student protest, the BCI issued a circular preventing the entire 2026 graduating batch of NALSAR from enrolling as advocates.

The council also criticised some faculty members, alleging that internal politics had influenced students. The circular stated:

"As per some reliable sources, there exists groupism and dirty politics among some of the academic staff and they have played very active role in misleading, instigating and misguiding the students. This is a very serious matter. The teachers, instead of involving themselves in their teaching job, are doing nasty politics in the campus. Bar Council of India, being the regulator of Legal Education cannot be a mute spectator of such a serious situation."

However, the BCI later revised its position. In a subsequent communication, it withdrew the enrolment restriction but decided to examine the circumstances behind the student campaign and sought a report from the university.

NALSAR Vice-Chancellor Professor Srikrishna Deva Rao said the university would first examine whether such an inquiry was permissible under its existing rules and governance framework.