Hon'ble Mr. Justice Vijender Jain, Chief Justice inaugurates the "Center for Advance Studies in Criminal Law" RGNUL at Patiala.

Patiala, February 21^st, 2007

         Hon'ble Mr. Justice Vijender Jain, Chief Justice, Punjab & Haryana High Court today inaugurated the Center for Advance Studies in Criminal Law at Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law at Patiala.  Addressing the students of Rajiv Gandhi National University of law on the occasion, the Chief Justice, who is also the university chancellor, said today the number of people living below the poverty line was more than 30 crore, 5 crore less than the country's population in 1947.

        The Country had failed to solve problems as it had adopted western models.  "The education system introduced by British was not for the betterment of the country, but for serving their objectives," Justice Jain said. There was need for a system derived from country's rich heritage.

       With the spread of education, lawyers would have a tough job at hands. Increase in awareness would lead to greater litigation, Chief Justice said. The university should not only produce lawyers, but good humans as well so that they participate in nation-building, the CJ said.

       Hon'ble the Chief Justice was addressing the first batch of 80 students at the Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law on the university campus here today. He was accompanied by Punjab and Haryana High Court Judges Mr.Justice M.M.S. Bedi and Mr.Justice M.M.Kumar.

       Hon'ble the Chief Justice whose judgments on intellectual property rights have been extensively reported in the media, said there were as many as 2.66 crore cases at various levels in Indian courts. In the next 10 years, this figure would record an upward surge, he added. The development was a pointer to the fact that the "people of India were becoming more and more aware of their constitutional rights".

      Terming the students of the first lot of the university as torchbearers, he said now it was their turn to become topnotch legal experts in their respective fields and make their alma mater proud of their achievements.

       The Chief Justice, who has also taken part in various conferences on international law, said it was a positive sign that in its first year, all 80 seats available with the university were filled.

      Hon'ble the Chief Justice exhorted the students to maintain a high-level of excellence. "If you can sustain yourself for five years, I am confident that you can become good legal experts," he added. 

        He also declared Socrates House as the best among the four Houses in a competition held by students of the university. The other Houses which took part in the competition were Plato, Aristotle and Marx.

He also gave away prizes to students who have attained academic excellence.