INVC NEWS
Raipur,
“A lawyer without background in history and literature is like a mason whose only job is to fix brick upon brick, but with strong background of history and literature is an architect who can visualize the entire edifice that will endure for decades”, said Vice-President of India Mr. M Hamid Ansari today in his address to law students at the third convocation ceremony of Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU) in Naya Raipur, as Chief Guest of the occasion. In his address, Mr. Hamid Ansari mentioned quotes of great scholars and intellectuals. About the first and the only Law University of Chhattisgarh, Mr. Ansari said that this university has been named after that Ex-Chief Justice and Jurist of India, who had lived all his life for law and justice and lived up to the judicial values. The convocation ceremony was presided over by the Chief Justice of India as well as Visitor of the University Mr. HL Dattu. On the occasion, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Dr Raman Singh, Chief Justice High Court of Chhattisgarh Mr. Justice Navin Sinha, Chancellor of the University Mrs. Vandana Sinha, Chhattisgarh Higher Education Minister Mr. Prem Prakash Pandey, Law Minister Mr. Mahesg Gagda, were also present on the dais as special guests of the ceremony. In the ceremony, judges of Chhattisgarh High Court, Women and Child Development Minister Mrs. Ramsheela Sahu, Chief Secretary Mr. Vivek Dhand and other officials and intellectuals were also present.
In his address to the ceremony, Mr. Ansari quoted an eminent American Judge of yesteryears and advised the graduating students that the main part of intellectual education is not the acquisition of facts but learning how to make facts live. Hence, they should strive to utilize their knowledge for creating constructive changes in society. He also quoted Lord Denning’s advice to young lawyers- “A lawyer without background in history and literature is like a mason whose only job is to fix brick upon brick, but with strong background of history and literature is an architect who can visualize the entire edifice that will endure for decades”. He added that he is happy to visit Chhattisgarh for the first time and to attend the prestigious ceremony. He praised Naya Raipur for systematic and ultramodern development, and congratulated Dr Raman Singh for the same. Vice-President of India further said that the Constitution of India embodies the modern concept of rule of law with the establishment of a judicial system, which should be able to work impartially and free from all influences. He mentioned in detail about the fundamental rights bestowed on citizens by Constitution of India.
Mr. Ansari said that Judiciary has gained confidence of people across the country. But he also emphasized on providing needy people accessibility to justice. In this convocation ceremony, 209 graduates were awarded degrees along with best wishes for future. This includes 124 degree-holders of BALLB (Honors) and 85 of MALLB. During the ceremony, 56 graduates were awarded gold medal.
In his address to the convocation ceremony as special guest, Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh said that this university has established its unique identity in the country and has glorified name of Chhattisgarh. Dr Singh heartily congratulated the graduating students. On the occasion, Chief Minister announced sanction of Rs 61 crore 50 lakh for various construction works in university. This includes sanction of Rs 26 crore for auditorium, 27 crore for hostel building and Rs 8.50 crore for miscellaneous. Talking about the naxal problem in Chhattisgarh, Dr Singh said that naxalites are violating human rights of people by destroying basic facilities such as roads, bridges and drinking-water arrangement in tribal areas. Though with support of people of these areas and security forces, State Government has been strongly combating the naxal-threat and has succeeded to a greater extent. He appealed the young graduates to strive for protection of human rights of the poor tribal people in naxal-affected areas. Dr Singh mentioned about the top-priority schemes of State Government saying that Chhattisgarh is the first state of the country to ensure Right to Food to poor people of state with Food Security Act. Before this law was enforced, nearly 600 petitions were filed in various courts for negating this law, which were all dismissed by Judiciary in one day. This removed all the obstacles in implementation of this law and nearly 60 lakh families were provided food security. Chief Minister thanked Judiciary for this valuable support. Chief Minister congratulated four law graduates of HLNLU who have been selected for Harvard University and wished them success in life. At the onset, Vice-Chancellor of Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU) Prof Sukhpal Singh presented university report.
