NUALS Cochin holds 5th Annual Convocation Justice K T Thomas delivers Convocation Address

The National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Cochin (NUALS) held its fifth annual convocation for the graduating batch of 2011 on March 31, 2012 at the NUALS Campus. A total of 64 students graduated from the University; of which 58 were conferred a B.A.LL.B.(Honours) degree while the remaining 6 comprised of NUALS first batch of LLM students..The function was presided over by NUALS Chancellor, Justice Manjula Chellur who is the Acting Chief Justice of the High Court of Kerala. Justice (Retd) K.T. Thomas, a former Judge of the Supreme Court was the chief guest for the function..The convocation ceremony commenced at 10.30 AM with Prof. (Dr.) N.K.Jayakumar, Vice Chancellor of NUALS delivering the welcome address. The Vice Chancellor provided a brief account of the important activities and achievements of the University and also announced the establishment of the M. K. Nambiar Endowment. The proceeds of the said endowment shall be utilized to extend financial support to meritorious students to complete their legal education, to organise the M. K. Nambiar lectures and a few other activities..Following this the convocation was declared open by the Chancellor..Karni Singh was awarded the C. K. Shivashankara Panicker Gold medal for the first rank holder of B.A.LL.B(Honours) degree and the Sharada Krishna Satgamaya foundation gold medal for the student with highest credit in Constitutional Law by Justice. K. T. Thomas. Speaking to Bar & Bench about his achievement, Singh said. “I dedicate this to my parents and thank NUALS for it. It is a great institution, which has transformed my life. After having practised for almost a year I have understood that academics play a very significant role in the initial phase of the career. While continuing to practice I will work for the academic side of law as well.”.T. R. Raman Pillai memorial gold medal (to the student with highest credit in Criminal Law) and a gold medal and certificate (to the student securing second rank in the B.A.LL.B(Honours) degree) instituted by the NUALS PTA was awarded respectively to Mrs. Neethu Susan Abraham and Mr. Ajay Justin O..Speaking to Bar & Bench, Neethu, said, “I feel elated on holding the degree from the prestigious university. Receiving the T. R. Raman Kutty Memorial Gold medal for topping Criminal Law and Procedure is the icing to the cake. I thank the Almighty, my family and my dear teachers from NUALS whose blessings have led to this accomplishment.”.This was followed by the admission of six candidates to the LL.M degree of the University by the Chancellor. Justice K. T. Thomas awarded the Nani Palkhiwala Gold medal for the best student in PG law degree to Ms. Anu Ashok..The message of Mr. Abdu Rabb, Pro Vice chancellor of the University was read out in his absence following which Justice K. T. Thomas delivered his convocation address..Speaking about the importance of the sovereign document of the country, the Constitution of India, Justice Thomas underscored the importance of the two famous decisions; the Keshavananda Bharti case and the Maneka Gandhi case which, according to him, saved the Indian Constitution. He recollected the arguments of H. M. Seervai and Nani Palkhiwala in these cases and explained the important role played by the Maneka Gandhi case in widening the concept and philosophy of Article 21. “The Supreme Court held that the words ‘procedure established by law’ thereafter would mean that the law must be just, fair and reasonable. In other words, it is not enough that a law is passed by Parliament or the state legislature with a majority. If that law is unjust, unfair and unreasonable, it would not be a law envisaged in Article 21 of the Constitution” said Justice Thomas terming these two decisions as the bulwark of the citizen’s freedom against parliamentary transgressions. He criticised the parliamentary form of Government in the country saying that the parliament representing the intention of the majority of electorates of the country is more an assumption than a reality. “So long as this defective electoral delinquency continues, I am not prepared to concede that the winner represents the majority of the voters in a constituency” said Justice Thomas. He also enlightened and urged the new entrants in the field of legal practitioners to ponder over what and how much they can contribute to utilize the Constitution to make it a throbbing and dynamic codex to reform the system stronger and safer..The convocation was attended by a number of dignitaries including judges, senior lawyers, teachers, parents and students of the University. The convocation concluded with the Chancellor declaring the Convocation closed..The convocation report was prepared by Arya J. Nair, VI semester student of NUALS, Cochin.