According to a timeline shared by graduating students, on August 3, they were invited to the convocation which was to be held on September 12. Students booked travel and accommodation for both dates.
On August 15, over 700 members of the NLSIU community signed a statement objecting to BCI chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra and CJI Surya Kant attending NLSIU’s convocation.
The statement by the students came after the BCI’s August 13 decisions to halt and, within hours, restore enrolment for NALSAR’s graduating batch for objecting to CJI Surya Kant‘s proposed presence at their convocation.
On August 17, graduating batches of NLSIU were told that CJI Surya Kant, as the university’s Chancellor, wanted to meet students to understand their position. A meeting followed soon after.
After the meeting, batches were asked to vote on whether they would attend a convocation with the CJI present, without protest or disruption. Holding the convocation without the CJI or allowing any individual expression during the ceremony was not offered as an option.
Students were also assured that BCI chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra would not attend the function.
The vote, held on August 23, showed majority support for that arrangement, given that the alternative was cancellation.
However, two days later, the terms changed. On August 25, the batches were told they would also need to issue a public statement inviting the CJI; it was also communicated that complete consensus on the issuance of such a public statement would be required in order for convocation to take place.
“It is to be noted that in no previous discussion was there a mention, let alone a condition-precedent of a public statement. This warranted fresh discussion in all of the four graduating programmes,” the graduating students said.
Over the following two days, the students deliberated on the demand. The B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) programme voted against issuing such a public invite. They cited the suddenness of the request, a restriction against mentioning that Mishra would not attend, and the fact that the statement would be vetted before release.
With that, complete consensus was not achieved, and on August 27, the university informed graduating batches that convocation would not be held.