The Bar Council of India (BCI) has withdrawn — within hours of issuing it — an order that had directed State Bar Councils not to enrol the 2026 graduating batch of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, over a student campaign opposing Chief Justice of India Surya Kant. The reversal came in a fresh circular issued by BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra on August 13, modifying an order the Chairman had passed earlier the same day. The net effect is that the graduating students may now enrol with the State Bar Councils of their choice, while the BCI continues to examine who was responsible for organising the campaign.
Order Rescinded Over Student Innocence
In the earlier circular, the BCI had directed that no student of NALSAR who had obtained the law degree in 2026 was to be enrolled by any State Bar Council as an advocate until further orders. That order — which would have blocked an entire graduating cohort from entering the profession over the actions of some of its members — drew immediate concern, and was rescinded the same day. Explaining the reversal, the fresh circular recorded that the members of the Council had deliberated and taken the view that the overwhelming majority of the graduating students were not party to the campaign.
“After thorough discussion the Members are of the unanimous view that as per the latest report, vast majority of the students of NALSAR (2026 pass out students) are innocent and they were not inclined to take part in the move of disrespect. Accordingly, the Council modifies the order of Chairman with regard to the ban on the enrolment of the NALSAR Students with the State Bar Councils. All the students will be entitled to get enrolled with the State Bar Councils of their choice,” the circular stated.
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Focus Shifts to Faculty and Organizers
The BCI’s allegations against the faculty remain active. In its original communication, the regulator had framed the campaign as the product of what it described as internal academic politics, alleging that there exists groupism and dirty politics among some of the academic staff who played an active role in misleading, instigating and misguiding the students. The teachers, instead of involving themselves in their teaching job, are doing nasty politics in the campus, the BCI said. The Council has asked NALSAR Vice-Chancellor Prof. Srikrishna Deva Rao to furnish, within three days, an authenticated report identifying the persons principally instrumental in initiating, organising, drafting, coordinating or mobilising the campaign.
The regulator said it has further been reported by some reliable sources that a handful of teachers and outsiders were instrumental in instigating the innocent students. The Council will wait for the inquiry report of the Learned Vice-Chancellor and the further action will be taken after receipt of the report. A final decision is due on August 19, 2026, after the University’s report is received.
While the enrolment ban has been lifted, the principle that no student should suffer without any fault appears to guide the Council’s current approach. This means the administrative punishment has been separated from the broader inquiry into who organized the protest. The students can now join the legal profession, but the focus has shifted sharply toward the academic staff and any outsiders involved in the campaign.