“Courts are nothing like what is shown in movies, broken chairs, inadequate infrastructure will be a common sight”: CJI tells law students

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana during the 8th Convocation address at National Law University, Delhi said that Students are known for their readiness to fight for all the right causes because their thoughts are pure and honest. “They are always at the forefront, questioning injustice,” he said.

CJI Ramana while raising the issue of the current education system said, "Unfortunately, the focus nowadays is on professional courses to the total neglect of equally important subjects such as humanities and natural sciences."

"The formative years of budding talents are spent in a suffocating atmosphere which unfortunately resembles prisons. Holistic development of a child cannot be achieved in such a restrictive environment," CJI Ramana added.

In addition to this CJI Ramana talking about the role of the National Law Universities in the Country said that the primary objective behind the establishment of National Law Universities in the country was to improve the quality of legal education in the country to produce better trained legal professionals. "However, no authoritative study has been conducted to determine whether this has taken place," CJI Ramana added.

Talking about Students being moved towards corporate law firms CJI Ramana said, "due to various considerations most students from these universities end up in corporate law firms."

"It is unfortunate that a comparable addition is not being made to the ranks of lawyers practicing in Courts from the National Law Universities. This is perhaps one of the reasons why National Law Universities are perceived as elitist and detached from social realities," CJI Ramana added.

CJI Ramana advised the graduating law students that as a practicing advocate you will interact with a far wider cross-section of society as compared to being a lawyer working in a corporate law firm.

CJI Ramana advised the students to remain patient as "Court rooms are not like those represented in movies or moot courts. Cramped courtrooms, judges sitting on broken chairs, stenographers and court masters having to attend Court without adequate arrangements, absence of restrooms, etc. would be a common sight."

While concluding the Convocation Address, CJI Ramana said, "I am sure you will all be able to overcome these early difficulties. I want you to combine the reality you will face outside this campus, with the theories and ideas that you have learnt at the university to creatively remedy the existing situation."