The Bar Council of India Withdraws Its Order Within Hours: After Telling NALSAR To Not Enrol 2026 Law Graduates, BCI Changes Its Own Decision

Key Points:

NALSAR UNIVERSITY OF LAW, HYDERABAD were told to not enrol any 2026 law graduate as an advocate by The Bar Council of India (BCI) on Thursday, August 13, 2026. The order came in when a group of students protested against the invitation of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant in their convocation. But soon after the order, BCI reversed its own decision and said that most students of the batch weren’t part of the protest and should not be allowed to suffer.

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BCI’s Order Was Withdrawn But What Was The Reason Behind It

It all started when nearly 450 out of NALSAR’s 1,400 students signed a representation in which they asked the university to not invite the CJI to their convocation. Their frustration came when CJI made few remarks during a court hearing. The hearing was about alleged police excesses during protests in Delhi. The CJI said that the court had no interest in looking at the videos of the protests where the clear image of the police brutality was recorded.

After this student campaign became public, BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra issued a strict order. The order said, “Till further orders, no student of NALSAR University of Law, who has obtained the Law Degree in the year 2026, shall be enrolled by any State Bar Council as an advocate.” Mishra also said that there was some sort of “groupism and dirty politics” among the teaching staff. He claimed that some staff members pushed the students or ignited the protest. He asked the NALSAR Vice-Chancellor for a report within three days. 

Names of the people who started and ran the campaign were supposed to be out, according to this report. However, this was cut-down before it even got out. Members of the BCI discussed on the matter again on the same day i.e. August 13, 2026. After the discussion, a new circular was released saying that most of the 2026 pass-out students of NALSAR are innocent. These students had no intention of joining in any act of disrespect. Because of this, the BCI changed its earlier decision and said that all the students are allowed to be enrolled in their respective State Bar Councils.

The new order from BCI clearly stated that “No student shall be made to suffer without any fault on his part.” The line speaks a lot about how a rash decision could harm the student's future. So, BCI decided not to punish the whole batch for the actions of a few.

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NALSAR Student’s Path is Clear But The Concerns of The BCI Still Exists

A quick reversal was a huge relief for the NALSAR 2026 graduates and their path seemed cleared to be enrolled as advocates. However, the concerns have not been dropped by the BCI about the campaign against the CJI. Council believes that some people played an active role in organising the protest. The BCI would most likely look forward to finding these specific people even after the ban was lifted.

The individual students who led or organised the campaign could face some questions from the BCI later. Even if it has to happen, BCI will conduct a specific process, without affecting every student. BCI’s decision of ban was circulated quickly and brought up too much heat on them from the public in a very short time.

The decision could have affected the student's future to which BCI’s reversal was the best move they could have made. Now, most 2026 NALSAR law graduates can now move forward with their plans to enrol as advocates. But the topic around the campaign remains active, and CJI won’t back down easily before resolving this issue by watching the law students and legal professionals across the country closely.

(Edited by Agniva Ray)

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