“We as [Future] Lawyers Have to Stand with the Student Community in India”: From NALSAR to TISS, Growing Student Anger Is Reshaping the CJI’s Public Calendar
Tanishka Shah | 11 August 2026 | The Leaflet
“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,” write a group of graduating students at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, opposing the possibility of inviting Chief Justice of India (‘CJI’) Surya Kant as chief guest for the University’s upcoming convocation.
In the last three weeks, three different varsity convocations at which the CJI was slated to appear as the chief guest were either contested by students, declined by him, or abruptly postponed. The root of the controversy lies in the notorious “cockroach” remark made by the CJI. Although he later said that the remark had been quoted out of context, it had already gone viral and continues to trigger sustained public anger among students and young job-seekers.
Matters intensified further when a mention regarding police brutality during the July 20 Chalo Sansad march came up before his bench, and the CJI reportedly refused to look at video evidence of the police action, saying, “We are not interested in videos… we don’t have time to watch.” He subsequently clarified that this response was because the counsel had not filed a formal petition but a one-page letter to the Secretary General of the Court. Even so, the possibility that the Court could take suo motu cognisance has kept the outrage over those remarks alive.