Bar Council halts NALSAR student enrolment over campaign against CJI, withdraws order hours later

The Bar Council of India on Thursday withdrew an order directing state bar councils to defer the enrolment of any student of the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research graduating in 2026 who opposed the participation of Chief Justice Surya Kant at the university’s convocation.

However, the council has said that an inquiry into those who were “principally instrumental” in a campaign against the chief justice’s participation would continue.

Political campaign Cockroach Janta Party had described the directive as “grossly disproportionate” and had warned of protests by law students and advocates if it was not taken back.

Abhijeet Dipke, founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, asked, “What if all legal cockroaches come together?”

Condemning the order, CJP Spokesperson Saurav Das said that students cannot be “collectively penalised for expressing dissent over a ceremonial invitation”.

Das had warned of a protest outside Bar Council’s office and Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra’s official residence by law students, advocates, senior lawyers, and “well-meaning young cockroaches”, if the order was not withdrawn.

NALSAR has extended an invitation to the CJI for the upcoming convocation despite students urging the university to reconsider the decision, citing Kant’s response to a petition alleging that police had used excessive force against protesters in Delhi on July 20.

In a communication addressed to state bar councils and NALSAR Vice-Chancellor Srikrishna Deva Rao, Mishra...

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