NLU Delhi invites Supreme Court judge as chief guest for 13th convocation amid NALSAR, BCI row

A day after the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) cancelled its 34th convocation, citing “unavoidable circumstances”, the National Law University (NLU) Delhi has invited Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, a Supreme Court judge, as the chief guest for its graduation ceremony.

The NLU Delhi will conduct its 13th convocation for the LLM students on August 30 at 10:30 am.

The announcement comes amid the ongoing row between the Bar Council of India (BCI) chairman and students of the the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) University of Law over the invitation to Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant to attend the NALSAR convocation as the chief guest.

Also read ‘Cancel admissions’: Jamia Millia students allege lower rank-holders given seats over toppers, protest

NALSAR convocation controversy

The NALSAR convocation controversy has been making headlines after CJI Kant refused to attend the NALSAR students graduation ceremony.

Recently, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) showed solidarity with the All India Young Advocates Association (AIYAA) protests, demanding the resignation of the BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra.

In the latest series of developments in the row, the NLSIU announced that it will not conduct its 34th annual convocation, which was scheduled on September 12 due to unavoidable circumstances.

To which, Saurav Das, chief spokesperson of the CJP, took to his X account and wrote: “I hope the NLSIU graduating batch organises its own graduation ceremony and invites the most honourable guest to felicitate them. Do it the Gen-Z way!”.

Also read Removing deprivation points from admissions will change JNU’s character, make it elitist: Professor

CJI Surya Kant vs law students

The NALSAR students' refusal to invite CJP Kant as their chief guest was raised after the BCI chairman imposed suspension order on the NALSAR graduating batch 2026-27.

However, merely hours after the notice, the BCI withdrew its order, stating that other council members were against the chairman’s move to ban students from all state bar councils.

Days later, the BCI chairman Mishra issued an apology to law students, saying that “though the apology does not name the university or dispute directly, it refers to recent developments which he said had caused concern among students.”