NEW DELHI: A protest has been called against Bar Council of India (BCI) chairman Manan Kumar Mishra over the controversy surrounding the council’s now-withdrawn directive linked to students of NALSAR University of Law, with the All India Young Advocates Association (AIYAA) set to stage a demonstration on Thursday.CJP national spokesperson Saurav Das said on X that “Legal Cockroaches” would come together to protest against Mishra and demand his resignation. The demonstration is scheduled for 10am.“The protest has been called by the All India Young Advocates Association. I support any form of peaceful protest that seeks accountability and sets high standards for conduct in office,” Das wrote.Ratna Singh, legal affairs head of the Cockroach Janta Party, also backed the protest, saying that “Legal Cockroaches are coming together tomorrow to demand accountability from the BCI Chairman.”“In a democracy, every form of peaceful protest is legitimate and welcome. The legal fraternity must recognise that every voice matters and that demanding answers and accountability is not only our right, but our responsibility,” Singh wrote on X.As per news agency PTI, tThe protest comes days after Mishra apologised to law students over a controversial BCI order concerning graduating students of NALSAR. In a statement issued on Independence Day, Mishra expressed regret if any of his words or communication had hurt students’ feelings.“If anything connected with the present controversy, any of my words, or letter, has hurt the feelings of our law students, I sincerely regret and apologise for the same,” Mishra had said.The controversy began after some NALSAR students wrote to the university’s vice chancellor, registrar and professors opposing a proposal to invite Chief Justice of India Surya Kant as chief guest at the university’s convocation.The BCI had initially directed state bar councils not to enrol any students from the current graduating batch of NALSAR as advocates. Mishra had said the council was examining allegations surrounding a campaign against the CJI’s participation in the convocation and had sought a report identifying those allegedly responsible.The directive was withdrawn within hours following criticism from members of the legal fraternity. A subsequent modified order clarified that the “vast majority” of students were innocent and should not be made to suffer for the alleged misconduct of a few.CJI Surya Kant later criticised the BCI’s action, describing the matter as a “dialogue between students and me”. The NALSAR Student Bar Council subsequently sought a public apology from Mishra.Graduating students, current students and alumni of NLSIU, Bengaluru, also issued a joint statement seeking an apology and opposing the presence of the BCI chairman and the CJI at their convocation.In his Independence Day statement, Mishra said students of National Law Universities were among the country’s most informed and discerning young citizens and that their views could carry significance beyond individual controversies.“The young men and women studying there today will tomorrow become advocates, senior advocates, teachers, scholars and judges. Some among them may one day occupy the highest positions in the legal and judicial system,” he said.Mishra maintained that peaceful protest and disagreement were part of a constitutional democracy, while urging students to reconsider their position if further facts or clarifications emerged.He also said attending or abstaining from a convocation was ultimately a student’s choice and appealed against giving the controversy a “political or extraneous colour through outside influence”.The AIYAA’s proposed protest now brings the demand for Mishra’s resignation into sharper focus, with Das also claiming that the Bombay Bar Association had called for his resignation.(With agency inputs)
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