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Chief Justice of India Surya Kant to attend NLSIU convocation in Bengaluru after Bar Council chairman controversy
The convocation will be held from 11am to 1pm at the Jnana Jyoti Auditorium in the Palace Road area in Bengaluru.
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The National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, will hold its 34th annual convocation on October 17, with Chief Justice of India Surya Kant presiding over the ceremony as the university’s Chancellor.
The convocation will be held from 11am to 1pm at the Jnana Jyoti Auditorium in the Palace Road area in Bengaluru, according to an invitation circulated by the university.
Bar Council controversy
Chief Justice Kant will attend the ceremony in his capacity as the Chancellor of NLSIU and will confer degrees on graduating students.
Actor and theatre personality Arundhati Nag will be the Chief guest at the ceremony and will deliver the convocation address.
The ceremony was earlier scheduled for September 12 but was cancelled after the university announced that there would be no convocation for the 2026 graduating batch due to “unavoidable circumstances”. Students were to receive their degrees in absentia.
The cancellation had come after a controversy over the proposed participation of CJI Kant and Bar Council of India (BCI) Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra in the ceremony.
Justice Surya Kant met NLSIU students
In August this year, students at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad had opposed the proposed presence of Justice Kant at their convocation. The issue escalated on August 13 when the BCI directed State Bar Councils to halt the enrolment of NALSAR’s graduating batch. The BCI withdrew the direction within hours.
NLSIU students and alumni had then expressed solidarity with the NALSAR students. On August 15, more than 700 current students and alumni signed a statement objecting to the participation of Justice Kant and Mishra in NLSIU’s convocation.
Justice Kant subsequently met NLSIU students to hear their concerns. Students later voted on whether they would attend a convocation at which he was present. A majority supported it, with the understanding that Mishra will not attend.
The issue resurfaced when students were subsequently asked to publicly invite Justice Kant to the ceremony. The graduating batch did not agree to the additional demand, following which the September 12 ceremony was cancelled.
NLSIU’s governing bodies later approved October 17 as the new date. Students may receive their degrees in person or in absentia, the University said.
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