NALSAR Hyderabad places BCI’s inquiry report request before executive council for discussion

Following the Bar Council of India’s (BCI) request for an inquiry report on students involved in recent developments regarding the upcoming convocation, the NALSAR University of Law Hyderabad, has decided to place the request before the executive council (EC) for discussion.

The development comes after BCI’s directive to suspend enrolment of NALSAR University's BA batch 2026, after student protests over Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant being invited as chief guest for the convocation.

However, the BCI withdrew its order amid backlash from its members and students.

NALSAR University will consider whether conducting such an inquiry will be a “constitutional exercise of its powers”, it said in its statement.

Therefore, the university will take assistance from its Executive Council (EC) to assess whether conducting such an inquiry will be “constitutional and permissible” under its regulations.

Also read The Bar Council of India problem: Why legal education needs reform at the top

Inquiry request consideration after EC’s consultation

The EC is the university's highest decision-making body under the statute establishing the university. Once the process of consultation with the EC is completed, the decision will be communicated to the BCI.

BCI suspended enrollment of NALSAR University students over the campaign against CJI Surya Kant being invited as chief guest at its convocation. Later, BCI said in its new report that most of the pass-out students were innocent and they should not suffer without any fault on their part.

BCI chairman further added that the order was issued “suddenly” and in haste but was withdrawn within an hour after modification.

“We collectively decided that there was no need for any inquiry into the matter, and that the chapter now stands closed. The entire issue has been completely closed. Our objective was to ensure that the students, particularly law students, did not suffer any harm or face any inconvenience, and that there was no clash with the judiciary,” BCI chairman told Press Trust of India (PTI).