New Delhi: Days after backing NALSAR University of Law students’ right to peacefully protest against his presence at their convocation, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has told Times of India that he had not accepted the invitation to be chief guest at the ceremony, so the question of him attending it does not arise.CJI Surya Kant, the TOI report says, said he “never consented to Nalsar’s invitation” to be chief guest at the convocation. “The question of me attending the convocation does not arise,” the CJI is quoted as having said.The issue of the CJI’s attendance gained prominence after Bar Council of India chairman and Bharatiya Janata Party member Manan Kumar Mishra jumped in and ordered state bar councils to not admit 2026 Nalsar graduates. He then retracted the order and eventually apologised.The CJI had not been amused at the BCI’s action.“BCI is unnecessarily taking action,” Kant had said on August 14, adding that if students had a cause to protest, “they have the right to protest.” He said the BCI’s intervention was “totally uncalled for” and said the issue was essentially a matter of dialogue between the students and the CJI.The TOI report notes that four days ago, Nalsar had confirmed it had, in keeping with tradition, invited CJI Kant to be chief guest at the ceremony that is likely to be held at the end of August or in September. More than 400 students out of a total of 1,400 had opposed the CJI’s presence, citing his remarks during a hearing on petitions related to the students’ march to parliament on July 20 and police excesses.As is well known, the CJI has a unique role in these protests. The July 20 march which saw close to 75,000 people followed almost monthlong protests under the aegis of the Cockroach Janata Party which took its name and inspiration from CJI Surya Kant’s comment in May saying, “There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don’t get any employment and don’t have any place in profession.”It eventually led to education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.On July 22, CJI Surya Kant had said that he was not interested in watching videos of police brutality on protesters on July 20, urging a petitioner not to waste the court’s time.