CJI Surya Kant at NLSIU convocation: 'external forces' clouded ceremony

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, who is also Chancellor of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), presided over the university's 34th annual convocation in Bengaluru on Saturday, October 17, 2026, and told graduates that the ceremony had at one point looked unlikely to happen because of what he described as circumstances driven by certain external forces. The convocation had originally been set for September 12 but was cancelled in late August after a section of students, graduates and alumni objected to the presence of the Chief Justice and Bar Council of India (BCI) Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra. The university later rescheduled it for October 17.

NLSIU is the country's oldest national law school and one of its most competitive, and its convocation is normally a routine academic event. This year it became a test of how far students can push back against the people who lead their profession. The objection grew out of a separate dispute involving the BCI and another national law school, NALSAR in Hyderabad. The students' statement argued that the BCI Chairman did not represent the full council and so could not act alone, described the BCI's directions to NALSAR as an attack on free speech, and said that inviting office-holders who had publicly shown "disdain and condescension" towards protesting students to hand out degrees would be "offensive, humiliating, and a mockery of students and their struggles".

The university's decision in August to call off the ceremony meant that the 2026 batch was told it would complete its degree formalities without a formal function. Reports differ on the exact reason for the cancellation: some tied it directly to the student opposition, while others said it followed the students' refusal of a university request for a public statement inviting the CJI. The rescheduling to October 17 gave the batch its ceremony back, and the Chief Justice used the occasion to speak about the episode directly rather than pass over it.

For students now entering the legal profession, the remarks set out how the country's senior-most judge views dissent on campus. His central message was not to avoid disagreement but to conduct it fairly: to listen before reaching a view and to keep arguments about positions separate from attacks on individuals. He also told graduates that the profession is not for the faint of heart. The speech did not name the external forces he referred to, and no report has said who he meant.

Short-term: The 2026 NLSIU batch has received its degrees at a formal ceremony after weeks of uncertainty, and the CJI's comments are likely to keep the debate over the cancellation alive on law campuses.

Long-term: The episode may shape how national law schools handle student objections to invited dignitaries, and how bodies such as the BCI deal with campus criticism. It also places on record the Chief Justice's view that campus disagreement should be conducted without personal hostility.

Who is affected: Graduating and current NLSIU students, students at other national law schools who watched the row closely, university administrators who plan convocations, and the Bar Council of India.

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