The Second Annual Convocation of the students of National Law University, Odisha (NLUO) was held on 8 August 2015 at the Orissa High Court Judicial Academy, Cuttack. Shri Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister, Government of Odisha was the Chief Guest for the day. Shri Justice D.H Waghela, Chief Justice of Orissa High Court & Chancellor, Shri Justice Dipak Misra, Judge, Supreme Court of India & Visitor NLUO, Justice Gopala Gowda, Judge, Supreme Court of India and Amitava Roy, Judge, Supreme Court of India awarded the degrees to the students.
152 students were conferred degrees, out of which 109 were undergraduate students – 55 students of B.A L.L.B and 54 students of B.B.A L.L.B, 23 L.L.M students from 2013-14 batch, 19 L.L.M students from 2014-15 batch and there was one Ph.D degree awarded. A total number of 16 gold medals were given to students in the convocation this year. The Ph.D degree and the L.L.M Degrees (Batch 2013-14) were given by the Visitor, NLUO. The L.L.M Degrees (Batch 2014-15) were given by Justice Gopala Gowda, Judge, Supreme Court of India. B.A. L.L.B Degrees were by Justice Amitava Roy, Judge, Supreme Court of India and B.B.A L.L.B Degrees were given by the Chancellor.
The speech of the President of India who was invited originally to give the Convocation address was read by the Chancellor in absentia as he was unable to come due to some unavoidable reason. He advised them to have a sense of duty to fight injustice and forefront against criminality, domestic violence, caste discrimination and other forms of exploitation. He also added that it is important to lend their voice to the voiceless, represent the powerless and obtain justice for them. He stressed upon the importance of the Indian Constitution as a powerful guarantor of justice, liberty and equality and urged that the graduating students should have it at the bottom of their heart. He stressed upon the importance of the cause of democracy and how it should be served well by engaging themselves with the issues of national interest.
Stressing the importance of learning as a life-long process, Vice-Chancellor of NLUO Srikrishna Deva Rao quoted Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore: “A teacher cannot teach unless he is still learning, a lamp cannot light another lamp unless it is burning.” He also underlines the constant endeavour at NLUO to come up with intellectually stimulating research in law and its interdisciplinary fields. “Contribution of law schools in legal research, legal aid, and legal clinics have made a significant impact to ensure access to justice for needy and poor,” stated Mr. Rao. “However, still it is not enough; we have miles to go”, he added.
The involvement of the University’s vibrant student community with co-curricular activities has yielded remarkable results, including consistently high results and performance in moot court competitions, active participation in prestigious national and international academic conferences, and seminars, said the Vice-Chancellor, NLUO. The liberal yet demanding academic culture, coupled with the friendly environment have ensured that students are able to harness their full potential and contribute in the area of their choice, he remarked.
Out of the total 16 gold medals, seven have been instituted by NLUO, the rest 9 have been donated by various dignitaries of the legal fraternity. Ms. Pankhuri Agarwal received the highest number of gold medals- four gold medals namely the State Bank of India Gold Medal, SKS Juris Legal Group Gold Medal, Ananta Misra & Annapurna Misra Gold Medal and the University Gold Medal for the second rank in B.B.A L.L.B (Hons). The second highest number of gold medals was received by Mr. Naman Singh Bagga- three gold medals namely the M.L Mitra Memorial Gold Medal, Shri Gagan Bihari Das Memorial Gold Medal and Ras Behari Ray Gold Medal.
The two University gold medals, each for the first rank in L.L.M for batch 2013-14 and 2014-15 were awarded to Ms. Semanti Choudhury and Ms. Jasmine Kaur respectively. The Dinabandhu Sahu Memorial Gold Medal was conferred on Mr. Adhiraj Gupta. The University gold medal for the second and third ranks of B.A L.L.B (Hons) Degree were received by Ms. Noopur Shrivastava and Ms. Shreya Singh, and that of B.B.A L.L.B (Hons) were received by Ms. Pankhuri Agarwal and Ms. Divya Muralidharan. The Shri Bichitrananda Mahanty Memorial Gold Medal was awarded to Mr. Pratik Shanu. The University gold medal for highest score in Intellectual Property Laws in B.B.A L.L.B (Hons)/ B.A L.L.B (Hons.) was received by Ms. Vinaya S. Iyer. The Madhusudan Mohanty Memorial Gold Medal was conferred on Mr. Abhijeet Kumar.
The Registrar of NLUO Dr. Dolly Jabbal, a host of dignitaries from the legal fraternity, parents of students, and staff of NLUO were also present for the occasion. The second issue of the National Law University, Odisha journal on “Access to Justice” was also released on this occasion by the Visitor, NLUO.
Prasanta Patnaik