- TISS postponed its 86th convocation originally set for August 2 in Mumbai
- New date announced as August 22 with Dr CS Pramesh as the chief guest
- Cancellation linked to fears of student protests against Chief Justice Surya Kant
Weeks after abruptly cancelling its convocation ceremony, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has announced a new date for the event with a new chief guest.
The 86th convocation of the prestigious institute in Mumbai was originally scheduled for August 2 with Chief Justice of India Surya Kant as the chief guest.
The convocation will now take place on August 22. Dr CS Pramesh, Director of Tata Memorial Hospital, will now be the chief guest at the ceremony.
But just two days before the event, the ceremony was postponed, with the institute not giving any particular reason for the cancellation.
While the official notification for the cancellation issued late at night on July 31 did not specify any reason for the postponement, sources told NDTV that the institute feared protests from some students against the Chief Justice.
Read | "This Is Between Students And Me": Chief Justice Raps Bar Council Over Order
Institute officials and student representatives said the postponement stemmed from campus security concerns and intelligence inputs regarding potential student protests targeting the dignitaries.
Opposition to CJI Surya Kant's proposed participation was also reported, with protests becoming a point of discussion.
Close on the heels of the TISS convocation postponement came protests from around 450 students at Hyderabad's NALSAR University of Law, who had separately objected to CJI Surya Kant being invited as chief guest for their convocation.
The Chief Justice, later reacting to the NALSAR students' protest, had criticised the Bar Council of India chief for a strong and punitive order against the NALSAR law students.
"It is between me and the students. What role does the Bar Council have in this matter? Students have a right to protest," the CJI said last week in court.
Bar Council of India Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra had withdrawn the BCI order barring registration of NALSAR law students with the Bar and had accepted that the decision was "hasty". Later, he also apologised to the students of NALSAR law university for the move.
