Manan Mishra on the Mat, Apologises to NALSAR Students, Says ‘I Sincerely Regret…’

Bar Council of India (BCI) chairman Manan Kumar Mishra has issued a formal apology to law students at NALSAR University of Law, days after the council’s move to briefly freeze enrolment of the institution’s 2026 graduating batch triggered a nationwide uproar.

What Mishra Said

In a letter issued on Independence Day, Mishra wrote that he sincerely regretted and apologised if his words or the earlier letter had hurt students’ feelings, adding that expressing regret was not about ego but about acknowledging that students’ concerns matter. He said the developments of the past few days had caused concern among a section of the student community, and that such grievances deserved to be heard with patience and sensitivity.

The Row That Triggered It

The controversy began after the BCI directed state bar councils not to enrol NALSAR’s 2026 graduates as advocates, linked to allegations of a campaign against Chief Justice of India Surya Kant’s participation in the university’s convocation. The council withdrew the enrolment freeze within hours amid backlash, but not before the NALSAR student body publicly demanded an apology from the chairman.

Calls for Accountability Continue

Not everyone is satisfied with words alone. Cockroach Janta Party’s Saurav Das said moral responsibility demanded that Mishra resign, while AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi questioned whether the BCI or its chairman had any authority to act against the graduating batch in the first place.

Mishra has appealed for the row not to acquire “a political or extraneous colour,” expressing hope that students would examine the facts independently. With an inquiry into the student campaign still pending, the controversy is unlikely to fully settle even as the apology cools immediate tensions.