Seeking to refute the report, a press note issued by the Vice Chancellor of NLU Delhi said, "As per the scheme of award finalised by the University, no medal was to be awarded to LLM topper by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India. Nor did the University ever make any such communication to any student including Surabhi Karwa. In fact the said topper was to receive the medal from Vijay Dev, Chief Secretary, Delhi NCT. The medals were also given by the other dignitaries present. [sic]"

Claiming that Karwa never intimated her concerns to the university, the statement said that the university was "highly perturbed over this instance as it has caused an unnecessary inconvenience to the Chief Justice of India".