CHENNAI: The Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) inaugurated its new law school, located at its Chennai campus, at a formal event conducted at the institute’s campus on Monday.
VIT law school offers two degrees, namely BA (LLB) and BBA (LLB), and has subsequently inducted 120 students in its first batch.
Addressing the students, Chancellor G Viswanathan said that the VIT Group which made a humble beginning 30 years ago as the Vellore Engineering College, stands tall now among the list of top technical institutes in Chennai.
“We started with just 180 students and three engineering streams at a backward region in Vellore, back in 1984,” he said and went on, “Today, we are proud tutors to more than 29,000 students who benefit by studying in our institute. We have nearly 5,000 students on the Chennai campus while we expect the numbers to swell once we start our Bengaluru campus as well.”
Reiterating on the need to have more law schools, he said that the clog up of cases in the judicial system require more courts, and subsequently, more advocate, “Lawyers are the ones who assure life, liberty and freedom. Justice delayed is justice denied. So, there is a necessity for more lawyers.”
He added that various state governments and the central government were partly responsible for the clog up of cases in the judiciary.
With nearly 4 crore pending cases before the judicial system, Viswanathan said that it may take 320 years or more in order to clear the log.
He also spoke of the urgent need to bring down the cost of litigation as the situation is such that the poor and middle class can no more afford to go to courts.
Former Justice of the Supreme Court of India, S Mohan, who was the chief guest, slammed the lack of discipline among the current crop of advocates, and said that adjournments were the key reason for the insurmountable delays endured during the judicial process.
“Adjournments are an anathema to the judicial process. I used to hate it, and so did my colleagues in my time,” said Mohan.
“These days, most advocates don’t even adhere to the attire norms as prescribed by the bar council,” he added.
Former Advocate General of Tamil Nadu R Krishnamoorthy praised the institute’s efforts at creating a pan India flavour with students from across India on their rolls.