3 min readAug 15, 2026 06:42 AM IST First published on: Aug 15, 2026 at 06:42 AM ISTThe Bar Council of India has rolled back its illegal, arbitrary and overreaching direction to State Bar Councils to not enrol 2026 graduates of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. But that cannot, and should not, be the end of the matter. It is necessary to rewind and pause on the now-withdrawn decision — to see how it combines a repressive reading of citizens’ fundamental rights with an overblown understanding of the restrictions that can be imposed on them; how the BCI arrogates to itself powers that are not, by law, vested in it; how the institutional failure of the Bar to hold up its end undermines the justice delivery system. The BCI’s attempt to impose blanket restrictions and administer collective punishment on an entire batch of law students came after about 450 students of NALSAR objected to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant attending their convocation as chief guest — earlier, a remark by the CJI had become the trigger for the formation of the Cockroach Janta Party, and another comment on the students’ protests subsequently seemed to underline perceptions of the Court’s insensitivity. On Friday, CJI Surya Kant himself snubbed the BCI: “It’s a dialogue between students and me. Who are they (BCI) to unnecessarily raise an issue?” The CJI’s rebuke is welcome and reassuring. But the need remains urgent for the BCI to conduct an honest reckoning.The BCI is mandated to regulate legal education, recognise law degrees, supervise State Bar Councils, exercise disciplinary jurisdiction over advocates. Its abortive bid to curb the freedom of expression of young citizens and cramp their right to disagree with a constitutional authority by blackballing them is a blatant misuse of its powers. The Advocates Act, 1961, under which the BCI was established as an independent statutory authority, provides a finite list of grounds for disqualification from enrolment — participation in a peaceful students’ campaign is certainly not one of them. In its zeal to cosy up to the judicial and/or political establishment, the BCI ignores that the constitutional guarantee of free speech includes the right to protest peacefully, and that the SC has laid down that restrictions must be tailored narrowly. The attempt to silence budding advocates is especially jarring in the aftermath of the students’ protests — it shows an institution that has not learnt any lessons from the movement on the street.AdvertisementThe CJI’s rebuke isn’t enough. BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra has embarrassed himself and undermined the institution he leads. The attempt, on his watch, to intimidate tomorrow’s bar and, indeed, the bench, to shrink the spirit of tomorrow’s court, calls for a course correction that can only begin with his exit. If the Bar Council needs to do justice to its mandate, Mishra must go.