BCI Chairman Apologises to Law Students Over NALSAR Enrolment Threat

Bar Council of India (BCI) chairman Manan Kumar Mishra has apologised to law students across the country, just two days after the council threatened to withhold the enrolment of graduates from Hyderabad-based NALSAR University of Law.

In a three-page letter addressing students on the occasion of Independence Day, the BCI chairman expressed regret over the recent actions and statements issued by the regulatory body. Although the communication did not make a direct reference to NALSAR students by name, it sought to ease tensions that escalated following the council's directive.

"If anything connected with the present controversy, any of my words, or letter, has hurt the feelings of our law students, I sincerely regret and apologise for the same," Mishra wrote in the letter released on Saturday.

The controversy began after students at NALSAR University of Law raised objections to the university administration's decision to invite Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant as the chief guest for their upcoming convocation ceremony.

On July 23, approximately 450 students submitted six separate representations to the university administration. In these representations, the students asked the administration to reconsider extending the convocation invitation, citing the refusal to hear petitions concerning alleged police brutality during demonstrations held at Jantar Mantar by the Cockroach Janta Party.

The standoff intensified on August 13 when the Bar Council of India intervened by issuing an order directing state bar councils across the country not to register NALSAR graduates as practising lawyers. Alongside the enrolment freeze, the BCI had also demanded that the university provide specific details regarding the students and faculty members who were involved in submitting the representations.

The punitive measures sparked significant concern across the legal fraternity, culminating in the BCI chairman's formal apology and retraction of the contentious stance.