New Delhi: The Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR) has demanded the immediate resignation of Manan Kumar Mishra as Chairman of the Bar Council of India (BCI), in a statement issued on 22nd August 2026 condemning his 13th August directive instructing State Bar Councils not to enrol the 2026 graduating batch of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad.
According to CJAR, the directive was issued after NALSAR students wrote to the university administration urging it to reconsider its invitation to the Chief Justice of India as chief guest at the convocation. CJAR described the move as "an attempt at collective punishment on an entire class of students" over that campaign, and said it was "utterly illegal and unconstitutional," even though it was subsequently withdrawn following public backlash. CJAR said Mishra has not expressed "any real contrition" for the directive despite withdrawing it.
CJAR said it stood by the Bombay Bar Association's resolution characterising Mishra's original letter as "an abuse… of the office of the Chairman," issued without giving the students a hearing, and endorsed that association's position that his subsequent apology could not substitute for resignation. CJAR further alleged that Mishra has previously issued orders unilaterally using the BCI letterhead without convening a meeting of the Council, citing the NALSAR directive as an instance of this pattern.
The organisation also questioned the legality of Mishra's continued tenure as Chairman. It said the Advocates Act, 1961 provides for a two-year term for the office, and that a proviso to Section 4(3) allowing a sitting member to continue "until his successor is elected" has, according to CJAR, been used to keep Mishra in office for over a decade rather than to facilitate periodic rotation as intended by Parliament. CJAR noted that Mishra has been a Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament from the Bharatiya Janata Party, representing Bihar, since 2024, and alleged that as BCI Chairman he has shown "more interest in furthering a political agenda rather than protecting the independence of the Bar."
CJAR additionally referred to a trust the BCI Trust Pearl-First Trust which it said Mishra had set up under the BCI and named himself a lifetime trustee of, and which it said had taken over the funds of an earlier BCI-constituted trust. CJAR said the handling and utilisation of those funds is currently under inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
CJAR called on the legal fraternity, State Bar Councils and the Supreme Court to ensure Mishra's removal and a free and fair selection of the next BCI Chairperson. Its stated demands include Mishra's immediate resignation; an inquiry into his conduct in office, including the formation and use of the trust; a binding two-term or time-bound limit on the offices of BCI Chairman and Vice-Chairman; a transparent, rotational mechanism for BCI leadership across states; full public disclosure of the BCI's finances and disciplinary record during Mishra's tenure; and institutional safeguards against any future office-bearer unilaterally penalising students or advocates without due process.
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