Why Indian law students don't want top judge at their graduation ceremony

India's top judges often make headlines for their rulings on major legal matters. However, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has recently faced backlash after comments that have angered young students at two prestigious law universities. The controversy began on July 23 when students from Nalsar University of Law in Hyderabad requested that Kant not preside over their graduation ceremony.

The demand was supported by around 450 out of the university's 1,400 students. Kant's presence at a convocation is typically considered a source of pride for aspiring lawyers, but they were upset that he had rejected a request to hold urgent hearings on police brutality during a protest in Delhi. Kant later claimed he was misquoted, but reports suggest he used derogatory terms like "parasites" and "cockroaches" to describe some youth.

The police crackdown on protesters in Delhi, which included the use of pellet guns, shocked Indians and was reported globally. When a lawyer raised the issue with Kant on July 22, he responded dismissively, saying "don't waste our time" and "we don't have time" when shown videos of police excesses. This statement sparked outrage from opposition parties, senior lawyers, and activists, leading Nalsar students to write an email requesting the university to reconsider Kant's invitation to their graduation ceremony.

The students felt that having a chief guest who appears dismissive of serious allegations of police brutality against protesting citizens was inconsistent with their values. Kant later clarified that he had not refused to hear the petition and only requested proper filing procedures. The Bar Council of India subsequently threatened to bar Nalsar's graduating students from enrollment, which faced swift backlash from the council's chairman and the chief justice himself.

The controversy has since extended to another premier law university, National Law School of India University in Bengaluru, where students and alumni issued an open letter condemning the Bar Council's comments and expressed solidarity with Nalsar in their request to reconsider the chief guest. The chief justice stated that he never accepted the Nalsar invitation to be the chief guest, but his clarification is unlikely to end the controversy.