Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant.
| Photo Credit: PTI
NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, will conduct a consultation with its Executive Council starting on Friday (August 14, 2026) to decide whether the Bar Council of India’s (BCI) request for an inquiry report on persons involved in the alleged ‘campaign’ against Chief Justice of India Surya Kant’s invitation to the convocation would be constitutional.
A press release dated Thursday (August 13, 2026) by NALSAR Vice-Chancellor Srikrishna Deva Rao stated, “Given the nature of the request, the university will have to consider whether conducting such an inquiry will be a constitutional exercise of its powers.”
Whether conducting such an inquiry would be constitutional and permissible under the university’s governance regulations will be placed before the Executive Council of the university, it noted.
The university on Thursday received a letter from the BCI that said it is “disallowing the enrolment of all graduating students of the B.A., LL.B. (Hons) 2026 batch.” Soon after, another letter rescinded that directive. Both the letters, however, asked the Vice-Chancellor for the inquiry report.
Mr. Srikrishna Deva Rao’s statement also clarified that the BCI was informed about the university’s governance regulations and said that further communication and the outcomes would be communicated once the Executive Council consultation was completed.
The inquiry sought by the BCI, and its immediate letters disallowing students’ enrollment to the Bar and later withdrawing the directive, was over students’ demand to reconsider Chief Justice of India Surya Kant as the chief guest for the 2026 convocation.
Students from the batch of 2026 via e-mail appealed to the university on July 23, and the junior batches too joined the dissent, bringing the total to about 450 students. However, the university did not acknowledge or reply to the mail.
The students’ demand and the developments surrounding the convocation were first reported by The Hindu in these columns on Sunday (August 9), following which the incident went viral and the university came into the spotlight. The BCI’s stance emerged four days later.
Published – August 14, 2026 09:32 am IST
