'Who Can Stop Them?' CJI Surya Kant Rebukes BCI Over Nalsar Row as Calls Grow for Mishra to Resign

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday (August 15) stepped into the controversy over the Bar Council of India's (BCI) action against Nalsar University of Law students, with Chief Justice of India Surya Kant strongly disapproving of the council's intervention in a student campaign against his participation in the university's convocation.

"BCI is unnecessarily taking action," Kant said, reports Live Law, adding that if students had a cause to protest, "they have the right to protest." He said the BCI's intervention was "totally uncalled for" and said the issue was essentially a matter of dialogue between the students and the CJI.

Meanwhile, calls for BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra, a BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member, to resign intensifed. The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), many from the legal fraternity and others have raised questions about his position on key issues and independence.

"Moral responsibility commands that Manan Kumar Mishra resigns. Cockroaches both inside and outside courts should ensure this happens," Saurav Das wrote on X Friday morning.

Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan wrote on X that Mishra "feels that he can act like a dictator, because he has the system under his control".

Quite apart from the absurdity of this fellow Mishra’s initial order (that no students of Nalsar of 2026 will be enrolled by the BCI) or the absurdity of the modified order of seeking disciplinary action against protesters (over whom BCI has no jurisdiction), I can bet that there… https://t.co/VmEANfRak9

— Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) August 13, 2026

Mishra on Friday stated that he was "ready to talk to the CJP", pointing out that the BCI members did not agree with his "hastily issued" order on August 13. "There is no question of any kind of action against the students," he stated, "I want to convey this to [CJP founder Abhijeet] Dipke ji and [CJP spokesperson] Saurav Das ji," he said.

A member of the Bar Council of India, advocate N. Manoj Kumar, has also written to Mishra asking how he could issue a "manifestly arbitrary" order regarding law graduates. "In a democratic country, students, like every other citizen, are entitled to express their views and disagreement," Kumar wrote, as per another Live Law report.

"The right of hundreds of eligible law graduates to seek enrolment cannot be suspended without any plausible reason," Kumar wrote.

Kant, while hearing a petition filed by two Nalsar alumni, Mihira Sood and Abhishek Tiwari, said students had a right to peacefully protest. "Who can stop them?" he asked, adding that so long as students were raising their voices lawfully and peacefully, "they must be heard".

The bench, which included Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, asked the BCI to submit its counter-affidavit within two weeks.

The court passed an interim order restraining the BCI or any state bar council from taking punitive action against Nalsar University students or faculty over the incidents referred to in Mishra's letters.

The order comes a day after Mishra withdrew his action against Nalsar's 2026 graduating batch, whose enrolment as advocates he had frozen after a group of students asked the university to reconsider inviting CJI Kant as chief guest on their convocation.

Mishra wrote late on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday: "After detailed deliberation, the @barcouncilindia has modified its earlier directions concerning @NALSAR_Official."

Justice Joymalya Bagchi questioned whether the BCI had actually been convened to authorise Mishra's decision. "Was BCI convened to take a resolution like that? We want to know," he said.

So far, the university has responded to the first and second letters sent by Mishra, saying that his "requirement" for the vice-chancellor to submit an inquiry report on the students will be placed before the Executive Council, the highest decision-making body.

"Given the nature of the request, the University will have to consider whether conducting such an inquiry will be a constitutional exercise of its powers," it said in a press release issued Thursday evening. It also said that the Executive Council would "assist" the university in deciding whether the inquiry was "permissible under the University's governance regulations".

Writ petition against BCI's order

Senior advocate K. Parameshwar orally mentioned the writ petition challenging two of Mishra's communications from August 13 before the two-judge bench. The petition argued that the BCI had no statutory authority to conduct an inquiry into the university's internal affairs or to impose pre-emptive restrictions on the enrolment of law graduates.

Advocate Radhika Gautam, appearing for the BCI, informed the bench that the decision in question had been withdrawn. Mishra's late-night message on X had said that no action needed to be taken against the students.

However, Parameshwar submitted that the cause of action survived because the episode raised questions about how the BCI chairman had acted. The writ petition relied on Section 24A of the Advocates Act, arguing that it participation in a student campaign is not a grounds for disqualification.

The court took the petition on board and passed the interim order protecting the students and faculty from adverse action. At the end of the hearing, Kant told the Nalsar students to obtain their enrolment licences at the earliest and join the Supreme Court bar.

"You tell the students, get the license at the earliest. Join the Supreme Court bar. We will empanel them for legal aid cases, and let them do legal aid. This will be the befitting answer to all those who caused impediment in their career," the CJI said.

Manan Kumar Mishra faces calls to resign

Sachin Kumar, Senior Advocate and vice-president of the Delhi High Court Bar Association, said the BCI ought not to have taken the "harsh and illegal" decision to ban Nalsar University students' enrolment. "The BCI should not take such decisions," he said.

Soon afer Mishra's late-night announcement, CJP's Das wrote on X that the question of accountability still  remained open. "It’s done, bro. Another major victory for the youth! But the quest for accountability will continue," he said.

Others with a legal and academic background said on social media that the BCI needs a "fair and competitive election" for the chairperson.

"The need for accountability is a must. The Bar Council has been led by him since 2012 and will be till 2030. That’s atrociously long, especially when seen in the context of REPEATED misuse of powers," August 14 morning. "@MishraManan01, please resign now!" he wrote.

Some users pointed out Mishra declaring support for the BJP and prime minister Narendra Modi's electoral campaign in 2013-14, as well as his remarks calling a section of participants in the recent Jantar Mantar protests "anti-national".

In March 2014, Mishra had referred to Modi as "Mahatma Gandhi reborn".

"The state of bar and bench in India is [in] 2026. CJI bans school textbook, bullies comics, dehumanises youth as cockroaches. Bar Council Chairman calls Modi 'My Lord', labels student protests as 'anti-national forces', bans entire law school batch from enrolment for calling out CJI," wrote one user.

In October 2016, Mishra, as BCI chairman, had written to Modi about the ongoing discussions about foreign legal professionals' role in India, in which he referred to the prime minister as "My Lord" eight times.

Trinamool Congress MP Mohua Moitra pointed out that the BCI has "no woman member", and that Mishra had once said "99% of Indians oppose same-sex marriage".

She was referring to a resolution passed by the BCI headed by Mishra that claimed, without giving any reason, that "99.9%" of Indians were opposed to same-sex marriages. This resolution was passed while the top court was, in 2019, hearing petitions seeking marrige rights equality for the LGBTQIA+ community.

"The legislature being truly reflective of the will of the people is best suited to deal with such sensitive issues. Every responsible and prudent citizen of the country is worried about the future of his/her children after coming to know about the pendency of this matter before the Supreme Court. More than 99.9% of people of the country are opposed to the idea of same-sex marriage in our country," BCI said.

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