NLU Delhi holds first Convocation Ceremony with President Mukherjee as Chief Guest; J. Dalveer Bhandari conferred honorary degree

The National Law University, Delhi (NLU-D) conducted its first Convocation Ceremony for the batch of 2013 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on June 15. The Chief Guest for the occasion was President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, who delivered the Convocation Address and presented the gold medals and cash prizes. Other attendees included Chief Justice Altamas Kabir; Acting Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Justice BD Ahmed and Justice Dalveer Bhandari, former Supreme Court judge who is currently at the International Court of Justice..The Vice Chancellor of NLU-D, Prof. Ranbir Singh, in his welcome address, conveyed his immense pleasure at the remarkable accomplishments of the University in the past five years, and expressed his gratitude for the support of the Delhi Government and the Delhi High Court. He concluded his address by advising the students to, “Commit yourself to what you believe to be important. Take risks to do so. Success will follow from those commitments, in ways you could never have predicted or planned.”.Prof. Singh also highlighted the University’s emphasis on giving back to society, brining to attention the Legal Services Committee of the University, the GOI-UNDP Project on Access to Justice for Marginalised Persons, the Programme for Conflict Resolution in Rural India, and the newly established Centre for Communication Governance designed to conduct cutting-edge research. In addition to this, students have been independently running Aaghaz, a programme to educate children between the ages of 12 and 18 years belonging to socio-economically weaker sections, with approximately 40 children currently under tutelage..The first degree conferred during the ceremony was the Degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) (Honoris Causa) to Justice Dalveer Bhandari. Justice BD Ahmed, the Chancellor, bestowed Ph.D’s on 2 candidates, the LL.M. degree on 15 aspirants and B.A., LL.B. degree on 71 students. The President of India conferred 22 gold medals and 3 cash prizes for academic excellence. Among the talented recipients, Salmoli Choudhuri was awarded 12 gold medals and 2 cash prizes, including the medal for “First Rank Holder” and “Medal for Overall Excellence,” while John Sebastian was recognised as the “Student of the Year.” Anu Paarcha was awarded the gold medal for “Best Outgoing Student from Disadvantaged Community” and Monalisa was awarded 2 gold medals, including the one for “Legal Aid and Community Outreach.”.The gold medals for Best Female Student were awarded to Ramneek Kaur of the LL.M Batch and Shreya Rastogi of the B.A., LL.B. Batch, respectively. The gold medals for Best Male Student were conferred upon Sonal Gupta of the LL.M. Batch and Sarvjeet Singh of the B.A., LL.B. Batch, respectively..In his convocation address, President Pranab Mukherjee called upon the gradutes to lead the way in the socio-economic transformation of our great nation. He expressed hope that they will take up legal aid for the poor as a life-long commitment and do their utmost to draw attention to the problems of the disempowered. President Mukherjee also observed that, “The location of NLUD in the capital city provides students with an opportunity to observe and participate in the legal and political process of our country…Graduates from this prestigious university must constantly look for ways in which you can give back to your country.”.This report was prepared by NLU-D student, Sanam Tripathi