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‘Never stop…’: CJI-designate Surya Kant teaches law graduates key ‘difference’
He highlighted that those who thrive in law differentiate themselves by their willingness to question certainty and learn from failures.
Chief Justice of India-designate Surya Kant on Sunday urged young law graduates to stay curious, never stop learning, and question intellectual certainty, as these qualities can prove to be differentiators. Justice Kant was speaking at Dr Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University in Lucknow during the institute's convocation.
Justice Kant spoke about the difference between lawyers who merely survive and those who truly thrive. “That difference lies not in how much you know in the beginning, but in your willingness to stay curious and never stop learning,” Justice Kant was quoted as saying by news agenct PTI.
He reminded students that the university bears the name of Ram Manohar Lohia, “a man who believed the most dangerous comfort is intellectual certainty”, adding that his legacy teaches that growth requires the courage to ask.
Congratulating the graduates, their families, and professors, Kant said, “You have survived one of the most intellectually demanding forms of professional education that our country offers.”
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath was also present during the event.
The CJI-designate remarked that this was the sixth of 11 convocations he is scheduled to address this year. “Every time, I try to change the subject and share new ideas with my dear young law graduates,” he said.
Justice Kant also recalled how he learnt from failures.
“Failure taught me to start from zero every time — to review every matter carefully. That habit, born from failure, became the foundation of my lifelong approach,” he said.
Arun Bhansali's address
Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Arun Bhansali also addressed the students on the occasion of annual convocation.
Bhansali said while words like justice, liberty, equality and fraternity inspire, their true genius “lies much in the silence between the words,” reminding the graduates that they were stepping onto a defining threshold and said, “You have lived in the security of guidance -- seniors to correct you, teachers to answer questions, and a structure that clarified every doubt.”
Asserting that nothing beats preparation -- which lawyers learn "the hard way" -- Justice Bhansali said, "Eloquence may dazzle for a day, but preparation builds a career. The courtroom does not respect the loudest voice; it respects the most ready mind."
Judges remember not those who spoke the loudest, but those who spoke with substance, he added.
