BENGALURU: National Law School of India University (NLSIU) on Thursday cancelled its 34th annual convocation, initially scheduled to be held on September 12. The development comes amid a pushback from students against the attendance of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, who was slated to attend the convocation meant for the 2026 graduating batch of the university.
A circular was issued by the NLSIU administration on Thursday morning to the graduating students, in which it cited “unavoidable circumstances” as the reason behind the cancellation.
“On August 3, 2026, the academic administration team had emailed the graduating students with advance notice of September 12, 2026, as the proposed date for the convocation. Despite our collective best efforts, due to unavoidable circumstances, we are unable to hold the 34th annual convocation,” the circular read. This is the first time after the Covid-19 pandemic that the university has cancelled a convocation ceremony.
NLSIU to award law degrees ‘in absentia’ this year
Graduating students of the 2026 batch will be conferred their degrees ‘in absentia’ after due approvals by NLSIU’s governing bodies. The students were left with the choice of receiving their certificates via courier or collecting them at the NLSIU campus.
On August 15, 165 students from the graduating class of 2026, 409 current students and 128 alumni had signed an open letter to the university administration, expressing ‘unconditional solidarity’ with National Academy of Legal Studies and Research ( Hyderabad) students, who had opposed the CJI Kant’s attendance at their university’s convocation ceremony.