North India Statesman
Resolving weeks of administrative uncertainty and campus friction, the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru, has officially confirmed that Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant will attend its 34th annual convocation on October 17. CJI Surya Kant will preside over the ceremony in his ex-officio capacity as Chancellor of the premier law school. Acclaimed theatre and film personality Arundhati Nag has been invited as the Chief Guest to deliver the formal convocation address to the graduating batch. The ceremony is scheduled to take place from 11 am to 1 pm at the Jnana Jyothi Auditorium on Palace Road in Bengaluru.
Why the September 12 Convocation Was Scrapped
The October 17 ceremony follows the sudden cancellation of NLSIU’s originally scheduled convocation on September 12. At the time, the university cited “unavoidable circumstances” and announced that degrees would be conferred in absentia. The abrupt postponement stemmed from objections voiced by a substantial section of graduating students and alumni. In late August, 165 students of the outgoing batch, alongside hundreds of continuing students and alumni, raised objections against CJI Surya Kant serving as the Chief Guest, while also protesting the proposed participation of Bar Council of India (BCI) Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra.
The Backstory: NALSAR Controversy and Student Pushback
The friction at NLSIU was directly linked to earlier events at NALSAR University of Law in Hyderabad. NALSAR students had protested against CJI Surya Kant attending their convocation following contentious remarks concerning student protests and youth activism. The row escalated sharply on August 13 when the BCI briefly ordered State Bar Councils to halt the enrollment of NALSAR graduates—a directive rescinded within hours after fierce backlash across legal circles.
In a show of solidarity, NLSIU students resisted inviting BCI leadership to their own campus. While CJI Surya Kant subsequently engaged with NLSIU students to hear their perspectives, a stalemate emerged when the graduating batch reportedly declined to issue an explicit public re-invitation to the ceremony, prompting the governing administration to scrap the September date.
A Calibrated Compromise for the October 17 Ceremony
To ensure the graduating cohort receives an official commencement without prolonging the administrative impasse, NLSIU’s governing bodies restructured the protocol. Under the approved arrangement, CJI Surya Kant attends strictly in his statutory role as Chancellor to confer degrees rather than serving as the event’s primary keynote speaker. By naming cultural icon Arundhati Nag as Chief Guest and granting graduating students the choice to receive degrees either in person or in absentia, the university established a pragmatic middle ground to conclude the academic year with institutional decorum intact.
