E-Paper
RMLNLU convocation: People with ‘status quo mindset’ opponents of Viksit Bharat: Yogi
Drawing a parallel with courtroom proceedings, Adityanath said that if a case for a developed India in 2047 were to be filed, the country’s 140 crore citizens would be the petitioners and those with a status quo mindset would be the respondents.
Prefer HTon Google
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday asked graduating law students at the fifth convocation of Dr Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University (RMLNLU) to treat their degrees as a ‘vakalatnama’ for 140 crore Indians and make a case for a ‘Viksit Bharat@2047’, saying those who believe such a transformation is impossible are the real opponents of the vision.
Drawing a parallel with courtroom proceedings, Adityanath said that if a case for a developed India in 2047 were to be filed, the country’s 140 crore citizens would be the petitioners and those with a status quo mindset would be the respondents.
“Who is the respondent in this case? It is not any specific individual or political party, but rather those people who are ‘yathasthiti vaadi’, people who have already assumed that this transformation is impossible,” he said, asking the graduates to consider how they would present their case before people unwilling to accept arguments or evidence.
Invoking 2014 as a turning point in the country’s reform process, the chief minister said India had moved from being counted among the ‘Fragile Five’ economies to becoming one of the world’s top five economies. He cited the repeal of more than 1,500 obsolete laws, amendments to 183 provisions across 42 laws through the Jan Vishwas Act, and reforms such as the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and the Goods and Services Tax.
He also referred to the abrogation of Article 370 and the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, saying reforms involved not only enacting new laws but also removing those that had become irrelevant.
Recalling the Emergency imposed in 1975, Adityanath said it had shown the country the difference between the “rule of law” and the “ruler of law”.
Referring to Uttar Pradesh, he said the state had moved from the “rule of mafia” to the “rule of law” under his government. Before 2017, he alleged, mafia figures wielded such influence that even convoys of people holding administrative and constitutional positions would stop in front of a mafia figure in Prayagraj. He said the change had helped transform the state’s image and its economic standing.
Adityanath asked the graduates to make public trust, protection of rights and access to justice the foundation of their professional lives. Every person, including those at the lowest rung of society, should be able to access justice without discrimination, he said, adding that public trust was the greatest asset of the legal system.
Quoting the Sanskrit maxim ‘Satyam Vada, Dharmam Chara, Swadhyayanma Pramadaha’ (speak the truth, practise righteousness and never be negligent in your studies), he described it as a guiding principle for legal professionals.
On artificial intelligence, Adityanath acknowledged its usefulness in legal research, drafting and data analysis but cautioned against treating it as a substitute for human judgment. He also flagged the risks posed by deepfakes, saying the authenticity of digital evidence needed scientific examination.
“Make AI an assistant, not a charioteer. Your judgment and Dharma should be your charioteer,” he said, adding that while a machine could prepare a draft, a legal professional remained accountable for its consequences.
Supreme Court judge Justice Vikram Nath, Allahabad high court Chief Justice Arun Bhansali, state higher education minister Yogendra Upadhyay and university vice-chancellor Professor Amarpal Singh were among those present.
(With agency inputs)
