Law is for anyone in dire need of it, says CJI at CNLU convocation

When you use your abilities to give voice to the unheard and dignity to the overlooked, you will be honouring not only your education, but the Constitutional promise that underpins it, the CJI said

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Surya Kant on Saturday said that “law draws its legitimacy from the people it protects”.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, centre, Bihar education minister Sunil Kumar, front left, and Patna HC acting chief justice Sudhir Singh, second right, during the annual convocation ceremony of Chanakya National Law University (CNLU) in Patna on Saturday. (PTI)

“Law is not just for those who can afford it, but for anyone who is in dire need of it,” he said delivering the Convocation Address at the convocation ceremony of Chanakya National Law University (CNLU), Patna.

Exhorting the graduating students to use their skills for people’s benefit, he said “the question is not whether you have learned the law; it is whether you are ready to reshape it, to bend the arc of justice towards the communities that need it the most”.

“When you use your abilities to give voice to the unheard and dignity to the overlooked, you will be honouring not only your education, but the Constitutional promise that underpins it,” the CJI added.

Maintaining that “law has an uncanny knack of humbling even the most prepared minds”, he said it is not an indictment of one’s ability, but an invitation to grow and to develop resilience. He also thanked the Bihar government for giving seven acres of additional land to the CNLU, which would be long term investment in education.

“After all, the life of law has not been logic, it has been experience. Bihar, the cradle of great thinkers of logic and jurisprudence, has been a meeting point of ethics, reason and justice. Bihar has shaped ideas that speak not merely to faith, but to fairness in public life. They remind us that justice is not an abstract concept, but a lived commitment -- to reduce suffering, to act without bias, and to place human dignity at the centre of all decision making,” he added.

He said that the world the young law graduates would step into is complex, impatient and often contradictory. “The law is also unfinished -- constantly evolving, something struggling to keep pace with reality. You should aspire to be lawyers who are grounded in self-belief, steadfast in the face of setbacks, and human enough o remember that law is profession you serve, not a force that should consume you,” he added.

Earlier, CNLU VC Faizan Mustafa, in his welcome address, highlighted the transformative journey of the institution, with a series of academic reforms, launch of new programmes and foreign collaboration in the last two years to be an aspiring globally-benchmarked institution of the higher legal education.

Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice Rajesh Bindal of the Supreme Court, Action CJ of the Patna HC and CNLU Chancellor Sudhir Singh, Bar Council of India chairman and Rajya Sabha member Manan Kumar Mishra, Advocate General PK Shahi, Bihar education minister Sunil Kumar were among a host of dignitaries present on the occasion.

At the convocation, highest number of 34 Doctoral and Post Doctoral degrees were conferred. Besides, there were 339 master’s degree recipients and 761 graduates. The CJI and other dignitaries also awarded 76 medals across various domains to students.

Earlier, the CJI inaugurated and laid the foundation stone various infrastructure projects, with an estimated cost of over ₹300-crore, at the Patna HC to usher in greater transparency and improve efficiency.

He inaugurated an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) building with an auditorium, and digitally inaugurated judges’ guest house in Gayaji. He also inaugurated the “e-ACR Nyay” platform, a digital platform developed to modernise and streamline the internal processes and improve efficiency and transparency.

He also laid the foundation stone of the annexe building of the Advocate General’s office, an administrative block, a multi-level car parking, a dedicated IT building, a residential complex and a hospital building. Later, he also laid the foundation stone of Bihar Judicial Academy building in Potahi under Punpun block in Patna.