The Bar Council of India (BCI) Chairman and BJP leader Manan Kumar Mishra has expressed regret and apologised to law students of NALSAR University of Law, without addressing them specifically.
In a statement issued on August 15, Manan Mishra addressed law students as ‘My dear young friends’ and said, “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.”
“There should be no hesitation in saying so. An expression of regret is not a matter of prestige or ego. It is simply an acknowledgment that the feelings and concerns of our students matter,” he added.
The change in tone came about after alumni and students of NALSAR and National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, wrote a letter to the BCI condemning Manan Mishra for his statements and criticising him for clamping down on free speech.
On Thursday, August 13, the BCI had asked state bar councils not to enrol students of the 2026 graduating batch of Hyderabad’s National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) as advocates all because the students had opposed Chief Justice of India’s presence during the annual convocation held in Hyderabad.
The directive was rescinded within hours, though the BCI said it would conduct an inquiry based on a report from the university’s Vice-Chancellor before deciding whether any action was warranted against students. A third message then clarified that an enquiry would not take place either.
Without directly referring to the NALSAR controversy in his Independence Day message, Mishra stressed that law students, particularly those at National Law Universities, were informed and discerning young citizens capable of forming independent opinions. “They do not require anyone to decide for them,” he said, adding that students should not be subjected to pressure or influence from any quarter. This after he had in his second communication dubbed students as ‘innocent’ and as a group that were ‘instigated’.
The BCI chief did not address the NLSUI students’ demand asking that he and the CJI not attend the convocation at NALSAR.
Regarding the convocation ceremony, Mishra said: “The decision whether to participate must, of course, ultimately remain with the students themselves. No student should be compelled to attend, and no student should feel compelled to abstain,” he wrote. Nothing in the apology indicated the BCI chief’s willingness to refrain from attending the convocation at NALSAR.
The controversy erupted after around 450 NALSAR students opposed the invitation to Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant to attend the university’s convocation. The students cited remarks made by the CJI during proceedings concerning police excesses against students protesting irregularities in the NEET-UG examination.
The CJI had declined to hear a petition concerning alleged police brutality against the protesting students, reportedly saying, “Don’t waste our time. We are not interested in videos, we don’t have time to watch.”