Overview
- NLSIU announced on Oct. 7 that the university will hold its 34th convocation on October 17 with Chief Justice Surya Kant presiding and Arundhati Nag as chief guest, and that students may receive degrees either in person or in absentia.
- The university had cancelled a convocation originally scheduled for September 12 after roughly 700 students signed a letter opposing the participation of the CJI and the Bar Council of India chairman.
- The dispute escalated in mid‑August when the BCI briefly directed State Bar Councils to halt enrolment of a NALSAR graduating batch on Aug. 13 and then withdrew that directive after sharp backlash.
- Justice Surya Kant met NLSIU students and the graduating class voted by majority to accept his presence on the condition that BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra would not attend, while some procedural demands about public invitations remained contested.
- The rescheduling ends the immediate administrative impasse but keeps unresolved questions about relations between the university, the BCI and the student body and sets up scrutiny of who attends and whether campus dissent affects future convocations.