‘Shadow ban’ fears at NALSAR after BCI seeks inquiry into CJI invite opposition

Following the Bar Council of India’s (BCI) statement that there would be an inquiry against students enrolled at Hyderabad’s National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) University of Law for opposing Chief Justice of India Surya Kant’s invitation at their annual convocation, NALSAR students expressed concern about how this could impact their careers. 

On Thursday, the BCI had initially directed state bar councils not to enrol any students from NALSAR’s 2026 graduating batch as advocates. However, within a couple of hours of issuing the directive, the BCI issued a second letter to NALSAR Vice-Chancellor Professor Srikrishna Deva Rao and all state bar councils, rescinding its earlier order. 

The BCI said it would, however, proceed with an inquiry based on a report from the NALSAR Vice-Chancellor before deciding whether to take action against students found responsible.

“The vast majority of the students of NALSAR (2026 pass-out students) are innocent and were not inclined to take part in the move of disrespect... It has further been reported by some reliable sources that a handful of teachers and outsiders were instrumental in instigating the innocent students,” BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra said in the second letter.

However, Vice-Chancellor Srikrishna Deva Rao said the university would assess whether such an inquiry was permissible. “We would have to assess whether such an inquiry was a constitutional exercise of their powers,” the VC said. “In order to assist the University, assess whether conducting such an inquiry would be constitutional and permissible under the University’s governance regulations, the matter will be placed before the Executive Council of the University.”

Meanwhile, speaking to The News Minute, a student of the outgoing 2026 batch who was among those who signed the representation opposing the CJI’s visit said that the redacted statement from the BCI did little to assuage their fears. The student also took issue with the BCI’s letter dubbing students as ‘innocent’ and as a group that were ‘instigated’. 

“We weren’t naive when we wrote to the NALSAR administration,” the student told TNM. “We haven’t been misled by anyone. We just did not want to accept our degree from a man who dubbed the youth of this country ‘cockroaches’,” the student said, adding that they just wanted to receive their degree from someone who ‘values free speech’ and ‘respects the Constitution.’

The student, requesting anonymity also told TNM that the BCI’s insistence on an enquiry did scare them. “For those of us who want to go into litigation, this is worrisome. But even for those who choose to go into corporate law, the BCI’s enquiry still matters as it has the potential to act as a shadow ban on hiring,” the student added. A shadow ban in hiring is when job boards silently limit the visibility of a job applicant without informing them. 

Around 450 students at NALSAR had opposed the invitation to CJI Surya Kant to attend the university’s convocation, citing his remarks in July regarding police excesses during student protests.

During protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, students were beaten by Delhi Police personnel. 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.”

“We also sent the letter opposing the CJI’s invitation because he had said that watching videos on police brutality against students was a waste of time. We haven’t been and aren’t okay with this,” the student added. 

This report was republished from The News Minute as part of The News Minute-Newslaundry alliance. Read about our partnership here and become a subscriber here.