Refine legal system: President to law students in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: President Pranab Mukherjee has exhorted law students to “Be the change that you seek through participation in all matters relating to governance and the state. Choose to engage with our beautiful, complex, often difficult and sometimes noisy democracy – help strengthen and refine our legal and political institutions.”

Addressing a gathering at National Law School of India University (NLSIU) in the city on Sunday, on the occasion of their 24th Annual Convocation at Central College, he urged the students to study the constitution well and understand the political system. “A democracy cannot be healthy without informed participation. It is not enough to merely vote periodically. It requires effective implementation,” he said.

The President advised the students to make intelligent choices and help the nation create better citizens, who are able to access all opportunities in the society. He said the Constitution of the country is one of the finest in the world and represented a second liberation from the stranglehold of inequalities in the form of caste, gender, community and other issues.

He asked the students to be brave even in the face of injustice. “If you are asked to pay a bribe, have the courage to refuse. If you are asked to support violence, corruption or oppression, have the courage to say no. If you fear reprisal, remember that breaking an unjust system is about making difficult choices.”

He concluding his address by urging the legal fraternity, especially law students, to be in the vanguard of the battle for the rights and welfare of our people and ensure love for the motherland, performance of duty, compassion for all, tolerance, pluralism, respect for women, honesty in life, self-restraint in conduct and  responsibility in action Supreme Court Chief Justice T.S. Thakur, Governor Vajubhai Vala and Chief Minister Siddaramaih were also present.

She dropped out of Engg and bagged 11 gold medals
Gopika Murthy, hailing from Thiruvananthapuram, bagged 11 gold medals, of which 3 were subject medals, along with securing the 1st Rank at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU). 

After the 24th Annual Convocation of the university here on Sunday, she said, “I initially did engineering for a year, but was not interested in it and decided to take up Law. I had difficulty in the initial stages because I did not have a social science background, but I got used to it in time. I was sincere to my subjects and
got support from home,” she said.

She has already made plans to do her masters in law from Oxford University, after which she wants to take up the offer she received from Herbert Smith Freehills in London, to practice Commercial Law.

Visibly excited over his daughter's success, her father said, “I supported her decision to switch from engineering to law. Every year she would do her best to do her share of internships.”

The next two gold medalists were also women students, namely, Shreya Prakash and Deekshitha Ganeshanm who secured 3 gold medals each. Shreya said she was keen about Commercial and Financial regulation. “I am interested in this as I feel that we need to tap the social utility in financial regulation.”