CUTTACK: Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra on Sunday advised law graduates not to be guided by majoritarian views and to be responsibly true to factual aspects by piercing the veil of perceptions being floated around.
Speaking at the fifth convocation of National Law University, Odisha (NLUO) at Cuttack, Misra urged the law students to be true to their own convictions and conscience besides becoming the connecting force between the judiciary and public.
“You must always be lucid, articulate and concrete in your line of reasoning and arguments, penetrating and striking at the focal point of dispute just like the bull’s eye of the dartboard,” he told the graduating students.
The Chief Justice expressed concern over lack of good faculty and academic leaders in most of the law schools in the country. Even the State Governments have not been forthright in providing regular funding needed for law schools to grow, he said.
Misra underlined the role of law schools in changing the quality of legal professionals and providing a generation of able and competent lawyers with strong sense of research.On the occasion, former Judge of High Court of Australia Justice Michael Kirby was conferred with the degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) honoris causa.
Delivering the convocation address, Kirby said law and courts must remain uncorrupted and honest but adaptive to change.“Lawyers, in-house counsels and judges have choices to push the law in good or bad directions. We must be alert to those leeway for choice. We must use them to the benefit of our societies,” he said.
He said law schools must ensure a diverse intake and encourage engagement between lawyers and civil society, promote all forms of legal aid, expose miscarriages of justice and create innocence clinics besides undertaking reliable empirical research and law reform projects.
As many as 18 students were awarded gold medals on the occasion. This apart, 167 graduates were awarded degrees which included 49 LLM, 57 BA LLB and 59 BBA LLB candidates.Among others, Chancellor and Chief Justice of Orissa High Court Vineet Saran, Vice-Chancellor Srikrishna Deva Rao and Registrar Dolly Jabbal also spoke.