Bhubaneswar: “Every time you buy a gadget, say a mobile phone, you also get a manual with it which explains how it should be operated. Every citizen should know the law so that we can function in the society,” Justice JP Das, Judge of the Orissa High Court, said on Thursday.
Justice Das said every citizen has to know the law and apply it to everyday life to make this world a better place.
He was speaking as the chief guest at the inauguration of ‘Legal Spectra’, the four-day 5th All India Law School Meet being held at the SOA Deemed to be University here. The meet is hosted by SOA National Institute of Law (SNIL) in which a record number of 112 students from 19 law schools from across the country are participating.
Justice DP Choudhury and Justice SC Parija, both retired judges of the Orissa High Court, also addressed the students as guests of honour. Prof PK Nanda, officiating Vice-Chancellor of SOA presided.
Stating that a person cannot be a good citizen without knowing the law, Justice Das said violating the red light at a traffic signal might be viewed as a minor issue, but it was important none the less.
Narrating one of his experiences as judge, Justice Das said a man had been denied bail in the lower courts for having stolen two goats. Though the accused person’s counsel pleaded that he should be allowed bail as it was a minor offence, he refused bail when he came to know from the records that the two goats belonged to a widow for whom the animals were her only source of livelihood.
Justice Parija urged the students to join the bar after completing their studies saying legal graduates might get attracted to corporate jobs but would not get the satisfaction of arguing a case in a court.
He advised the students to be articulate and precise and learn what not to say during the argument. “There is a trend now that lawyers start referring to past decisions from the very beginning of a case. You should know the facts and read the statutes first,” he advised.
Justice Choudhury said the legal profession provided those pursuing legal studies with the opportunity to uphold the independence of thought and ideas. “Lawyers have to protect the rights of the people,” he said.
“Know the constitution and promote justice,” he told the students.
Prof Prabir Kumar Patnaik, Dean of SNIL and senior professor Prof Jayadev Pati also spoke while Dr Itishree Mishra proposed the vote of thanks.
The law schools participating in the meet included National Law University Odisha, Cuttack, Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, IIT, Kharagpur, School of Excellence in Law, Chennai, Balaji Law College, Pune, M.S. Law College, Cuttack, University Law College, Bhubaneswar, KIIT, Bhubaneswar and Amity Law School, Kolkata.
The competitions would include moot court, trial advocacy, legal drafting, parliamentary debate, quiz, song, dance and photography.
