Archive · 15 Aug 2026
Bihar lawyer Manan Kumar Mishra: Bar Council chief becomes Rajya Sabha MP
Manan Kumar Mishra is a famous lawyer from Bihar, India.
He grew up in a district called Gopalganj and studied very hard.
He won a gold medal when he finished law school.
He started working as a lawyer in 1982 and later became a very important lawyer in the Supreme Court of India.
He also became a member of Parliament, which means he helps make laws for the country.
For many years, he has been the head of a group called the Bar Council of India, which looks after lawyers and law schools.
Recently, law students at NALSAR University protested because they did not want a judge to come to their graduation ceremony.
Mishra's group told the university that all those students could not become lawyers, which many people thought was unfair.
After an uproar, the council changed its decision, and the Supreme Court said the students have the right to peacefully disagree.
Manan Kumar Mishra was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar in August 2024 on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket.
He began his legal career in 1982 at Gopalganj Civil Court and the Patna High Court, later becoming a Senior Advocate in the Supreme Court of India.
Mishra has served as Chairman of the Bar Council of India since April 2012, winning a historic seventh term in early 2025.
He sparked controversy by freezing enrolment for the entire 2026 NALSAR graduating batch over student protests against Chief Justice Surya Kant's convocation invitation.
The BCI reversed its disciplinary action within 24 hours, and the Supreme Court, led by CJI Surya Kant, criticised the council's intervention.
Mishra previously contested elections on Bahujan Samaj Party and Indian National Congress tickets before joining the BJP in 2014.
- Who
- Manan Kumar Mishra, Chairman of the Bar Council of India and newly elected BJP Rajya Sabha MP.
- What
- Mishra's rise from a Gopalganj lawyer to Rajya Sabha MP and his controversial handling of the NALSAR convocation row.
- When
- Career spanning from 1982; Rajya Sabha election in August 2024; seventh term as BCI Chairman in early 2025.
- Where
- Bihar, New Delhi, and Hyderabad (NALSAR University of Law).
- Why
- He was nominated for the Rajya Sabha by-election necessitated by Misa Bharti's election to the Lok Sabha, and his BCI action followed student protests over a judicial observation.
Critics of the BCI action
Bar Council of India position
Enrolment freeze on NALSAR graduates
Critics of the BCI action
Legal scholars, student bodies and bar members called the order an overreach that punished an entire graduating class for a protest they did not organise.
Bar Council of India position
Mishra's circular suspended enrolment of the entire 2026 batch pending an inquiry and demanded a report identifying the organisers behind the campaign.
Authority to intervene in universities
Critics of the BCI action
The Supreme Court questioned the council's statutory authority to interfere in internal university administration and affirmed students' fundamental right to peaceful dissent.
Bar Council of India position
The BCI acted to protect a constitutional functionary, accusing university faculty of groupism and instigating students to intimidate Chief Justice Surya Kant.
Breadth of the disciplinary action
Critics of the BCI action
Critics said the collective penalty punished innocent students for the actions of a section of protesters.
Bar Council of India position
The BCI later concluded graduating students bore no direct responsibility and dropped all disciplinary proceedings after modifying the directive to allow pending enrolments.
- Full name
- Manan Kumar Mishra
- Birthplace
- Gopalganj district, Bihar
- Education
- BSc (Hons) from Rajendra College, Chapra; law from Patna Law College, Patna University (gold medalist)
- Bar Council Chairman since
- April 2012 (with a break in 2014); seventh term in early 2025
- Rajya Sabha election
- August 2024, BJP, Bihar, elected unopposed
- Political affiliations
- BSP, Congress, and BJP (joined 2014)
- NALSAR controversy
- Enrolment freeze on 2026 batch reversed within 24 hours