Bar Council of India (BCI) Chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra on Saturday rejected allegations levelled against him by senior advocate and the bar body’s co-chairman, Y R Sadasiva Reddy, saying the charges have “no value” among lawyers and asserting that he is a man of “honesty and integrity”.
In a letter dated August 22, Reddy called upon Mishra to resign within 15 days and sought a special meeting of the BCI, along with an independent audit of its accounts and the BCI Trust PEARL-First. The letter mentioned Reddy’s designation as the bar body’s co-chairman.
Reddy alleged that the statutory body has drifted away from the standards expected of it under Mishra’s leadership.
In an exclusive interview to PTI, Mishra, however claimed that Reddy is no longer a member of the BCI as he did not contest the last bar council polls in his home state, Karnataka.
He said Reddy was a BCI member for eight years but did not raise such complaints during that time.
“Lawyers know me and know that I am an honest man. Manan Mishra is a man of honesty and integrity. Y R Sadasiva Reddy was a member here. As of today, he is no longer a member of the state bar council. He did not have the courage to contest the state bar council election,” Mishra said while responding to Reddy’s allegations.
“If he had any such complaint, he should have raised it then. For the eight years that he was a member of the Bar Council of India, he did not raise his voice,” he added.
In his letter, Reddy also criticised Mishra over the BCI’s now-withdrawn directive threatening to withhold the enrolment of the 2026 graduating batch of NALSAR University of Law students over a campaign concerning Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant.
Mishra, however, said he has the backing of the country’s legal fraternity.
“As long as I have the support of the legal fraternity and the country’s 2.5 million (25 lakh) lawyers, people like Sadasiva Reddy will come and go and continue making such statements on social media,” he said.
Mishra was to address a press conference on Saturday afternoon over the allegations levelled against him by Reddy. The press conference will now be held on Monday.
The demand for Mishra’s resignation gained momentum following the now-withdrawn BCI order directing that the enrolment of the NALSAR University of Law’s 2026 graduating batch as advocates be kept on hold.
The order was issued after some students objected to the CJI attending the university’s convocation as the chief guest, but was withdrawn within hours following widespread backlash.
The controversy continued to fuel calls for Mishra’s resignation, with Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) spokesperson Saurav Das publicly saying that “moral responsibility” required the BCI chairman to step down. Earlier, the CJP had also backed a protest call by the All India Young Advocates Association seeking Mishra’s resignation.
