Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant. (File Photo)
Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant has been invited as the chief guest at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, for its convocation, the office of the Vice-Chancellor has said. This comes against the backdrop of protests by a section of students demanding that the CJI not be invited to the convocation ceremony, the dates of which are as yet undecided. The university is awaiting a response to the invite.
“We have extended an invite to the CJI,” V-C Professor Srikrishna Deva Rao’s office said. The date for the convocation has not yet been fixed, though it is usually held in August or September, the office added.
About 450 of NALSAR’s 1,400 students had earlier opposed Justice Surya Kant being the chief guest, citing his recent remarks in connection with a petition alleging police excesses during the NEET protests last month.
The first representation to the authorities was sent on July 23 by 70 members of the outgoing LLB batch. By July 25, students from the batches of 2027, 2028, 2029, 2030 and 2031 — about 380 students in all — had expressed solidarity with the statement and submitted separate letters to the university administration.
On July 22, the Supreme Court declined to initiate suo motu proceedings on allegations of police excesses during the July 20 crackdown on student protesters in Delhi. When a lawyer submitted that there was videographic evidence of police brutality, CJI Kant orally declined to examine the videos, saying the court’s time should not be “wasted”.
In their first letter, written a day after the remarks, the students said: “Our concerns arise from the refusal of the Honourable Supreme Court Bench led by the Hon’ble CJI to allow urgent listing of a plea concerning the brutal police action against protestors… A convocation is meant to be a moment where the University’s own values, including a commitment to constitutional rights, access to justice and reasoned engagement with grievances are visibly reflected in the choices it makes. We feel that receiving our degrees from a dignitary whose recent public conduct… appears dismissive of serious allegations of police brutality against protesting citizens sits uncomfortably with what we have been taught to value during our time at NALSAR… We would therefore request the university to strongly reconsider the choice of Chief Guest for this convocation…”
Over the next few days, students from several batches wrote to the administration in similar terms. The 2029 batch said: “…We find ourselves in agreement with the concerns articulated by the graduating batch. We also believe that their representation raises questions that extend beyond the immediate interests of one graduating class and instead concern the constitutional ethos that NALSAR seeks to embody.”
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According to the letter from the 2028 batch, the students stand in “vehement opposition” to the presence of the current CJI at the convocation.
The 2030 batch was more direct in its wording. The letter said: “As reported on record (the CJI made the comments) ‘Please don’t waste our time. We don’t have time to watch these videos’. Even in the past, the CJI had made a statement calling youth ‘parasites and cockroaches attacking the system’… we believe that such conduct from the highest office of justice in India does not embody what our Constitution stands for and does not align with the values NALSAR has stood by throughout its history.”