Mumbai: The Bombay Bar Association has issued a statement condemning the actions of Mr. Manan Kumar Mishra, Chairman, Bar Council of India, over a letter directing the Vice-Chancellor of NALSAR University of Law to submit a report and directing State Bar Councils not to enrol students from NALSAR's outgoing 2026 batch, calling the communication an abuse of the office of Chairman and holding that his subsequent apology was belated and did not reflect true remorse.
The statement, approved at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Bombay Bar Association held on 17 and 18 August 2026 through video conferencing, records that Mr. Mishra had issued a letter dated 13 August 2026, bearing no. BCI:D:5449/2026, directing the NALSAR Vice-Chancellor to submit a report and directing State Bar Councils not to enrol the university's outgoing 2026 batch students. This was modified by a second communication of the same date, bearing no. BCI:D:5450/2026, which dropped the proposed action against the students while retaining the direction to NALSAR to carry out an inquiry, and which recorded that it was issued with the approval of the Council.
The Association noted that in a tweet posted at 00:37 hrs on 14 August 2026, Mr. Mishra stated:
“Bar Council of India has decided to close the proceedings altogether. No further action is required @NALSAR_Official.”
The Association further noted that the Supreme Court of India is seized of the matter arising from these events, which remains sub judice, and that Mr. Mishra subsequently issued a letter dated 15 August 2026 in the nature of an apology. The Bombay Bar Association stated that it stood by the Bar Council of India's decision to close the proceedings altogether, describing it as a step in the right direction that restored faith in the institution.
Recording its deliberations on the developments between 13 and 15 August 2026, the Standing Committee held that the office of Chairman, Bar Council of India, carried commensurate responsibility, and that the communication dated 13 August 2026 was a direct attempt to cause grave prejudice to the professional careers of NALSAR's outgoing 2026 batch students, issued without regard to principles governing the right to protest and freedom of speech and expression, condemning a large section of students unheard. The Committee held that issuance of the communication amounted to an abuse of the office of Chairman by Mr. Mishra.
The Committee also recorded its deepest anguish that Mr. Mishra, a Senior Advocate, had while occupying the post of Chairman issued orders and directions against the NALSAR students that did not fall within the purview of the Bar Council of India, and strongly condemned such actions while expressing thanks to the Bar Council of India for reversing the 13 August 2026 order passed against the students.
On the apology tendered by Mr. Mishra, the Committee observed “The issuance of an apology by Mr. Mishra on 15 August 2026 is clearly belated and nothing but an attempt to merely assuage the situation, when by his conduct, Mr. Mishra has failed to uphold the dignity of the legal profession, constitutional freedoms and the principles of fairness and natural justice, while occupying the office of Chairman, Bar Council of India.”
The Committee held that the apology could not be considered an expression of true remorse, since Mr. Mishra continued to hold the position of Chairman despite his conduct, when in the fitness of things he ought to have already resigned. The statement was signed by Mr. Venkatesh Dhond, Vice-President, Mr. Nitin Thakker, President, and Mr. Naushad Engineer, Honorary Secretary, of the Bombay Bar Association.
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