Chief Justice Surya Kant slammed the Bar Council of India's decision to issue a directive not to enrol students who graduated from Nalsar University on Friday.
The BCI had issued an order to all State Bar councils not to enrol students who graduated from NAlSAR university if Hyderbad. They rescinded the order hours later after major backlash from student protesters, including the Congress party.
Kant slammed the BCI and called the order absolutely uncalled for.
“I myself was a student who was actively engaged in protests. It's a dialogue between students and me; who are they (BCI) to interfere," the Chief Justice said.
Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President and Senior lawyer Vikas Singh has slammed the BCI's move as "arbitrary, illegal and disproportionate".
The Court has also sought a response from BCI in its circulars
The BCI directive was issued after student protesters opposed the CJI’s presence in protest against his cockroach remark about unemployed youth.
The remark eventually led to the formation of the Cockroach Janta Party, which eventually resulted in the resignation of the former education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
CJI Kant later clarified that his remark was aimed at those with fake degrees in the legal profession.
BCI president and a BJP member in the Rajya Sabha, Manan Kumar Mishra issued an order directing all state bar councils not to enrol any student of the 2026 graduating batch as an advocate.
“Till 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,” Mishra said in his order.
After major backlash, the BCI withdrew its order.
Cockroach Janta Party spokesperson Saurav Das questioned the BCI’s direction in a post on X.
“Students of NALSAR have displayed democratic dissent against a person they, in their own wisdom, thought was unfit to give them their hard-earned degrees. Who are you to intervene? Your accountability needs to be talked about too. Tell us why, as the statutory regulator (BCI) responsible for supervising State Bar Councils, you permitted elected bodies to continue BEYOND their terms until the Supreme Court intervened? Who were these people that were favoured as a result of this? Tell us now,” he wrote in a post on X.
“Law students and advocates in Delhi and across the country will rise in protest against you and in support of the students of NALSAR if you don’t WITHDRAW this disgusting notification IMMEDIATELY and apologise for your conduct. Your conduct and tenure as the BCI Chairman (while being BJP RS MP) need to be accounted for,” he added.
