Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has clarified that he never accepted an invitation to attend the convocation ceremony of Hyderabad’s NALSAR University of Law, saying there was therefore no question of him attending the event or facing protests from students.
His clarification comes amid a controversy over the university’s proposed invitation to him as the chief guest at the convocation.
Speaking informally after addressing vice-chancellors of National Law Universities in Jodhpur, the CJI said he had never consented to the invitation. “When I never consented to the invitation, the question of attending the convocation does not arise,” he said.
450 NALSAR Students Objected To Invitation
The controversy began after more than 450 students from NALSAR’s 2026 graduating batch objected to the proposal to invite the CJI as chief guest for their convocation.
The students’ objections were linked to oral observations made by Surya Kant during the hearing of a case concerning alleged police action against students during the Parliament March protests.
The issue escalated after the Bar Council of India (BCI) intervened. BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra issued an order warning that the enrolment of NALSAR’s graduating students as advocates could be withheld.
The move drew criticism from legal experts, students and members of the legal fraternity. The BCI withdrew the order within hours.
The dispute later reached the Supreme Court, which took a strong view of the BCI’s intervention.
During the hearing, the court questioned the need for the BCI to intervene in what it described as a matter between the Chief Justice and the students. The court also emphasised that students have the right to express dissent and protest.
Following the Supreme Court’s observations, the BCI formally withdrew its directive.
Meanwhile, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has also changed its chief guest for its 86th convocation, which will be held on August 22.
TISS has now invited Dr CS Pramesh, director of Tata Memorial Hospital, to attend the ceremony. The institute had earlier invited CJI Surya Kant as the chief guest.
However, just 48 hours before the ceremony was scheduled to be held on August 2, TISS announced that the event had been postponed due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
According to reports, the decision was taken amid concerns over possible protests or disruptions during the event. This came in the wake of controversy over remarks attributed to Justice Surya Kant, in which he referred to unemployed young Indians as “cockroaches”. The remarks have also been linked to recent student protests across the country.
The convocation will now be held on Saturday at TISS’s Naoroji campus in Deonar, with graduating students from its campuses across the country expected to attend.