SCBA chief condemns BCI directive against NALSAR graduates

Hyderabad: Supreme Court Bar Association president Dr. Vikas Singh on Thursday condemned the Bar Council of India (BCI) decision to debar and withhold the enrolment of NALSAR University Of Law graduates in the State Bar Councils.

He urged the BCI to immediately withdraw the ‘unjustified directive’ and permit the 2026 NALSAR graduates to seek enrolment without any hindrance and in accordance with law.

In a letter to BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra, Dr. Singh called the directive ‘illegal’, ‘disproportionate’ and ‘fundamentally unsustainable’.

“It amounts to an attempt to intimidate law students for exercising their fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression. Universities are meant to be campuses of free thought and fearless debate,” he said.

Students cannot be threatened with denial of their right to enter the legal profession merely because they expressed disagreement with a constitutional authority, he said, adding that such an approach is fundamentally antithetical to the very values that a law university is expected to nurture.

The directive also seriously affects the graduates’ fundamental right under Article 19 (1) (g) to practise a profession of their choice, he said, adding that,” A blanket and indefinite restriction of this nature cannot meet the requirements of legality, reasonableness or proportionality”.