CJI Surya Kant asks NLSIU graduates to listen to unheard voices

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant told graduating students at the National Law School of India University in Bengaluru that the legal profession demands “the courage to defend what is just and the humility to listen to voices that are often unheard.”

Justice Kant, who is NLSIU’s chancellor, conferred degrees and doctorates at the university’s convocation on Saturday. He asked the outgoing students to practise fairness: hear people before judging them, distinguish a person from a position, and disagree without denying another person’s dignity.

Law, he said, changes through the work of those who practise it. The cases lawyers argue, contracts they draft and judgments they write contribute to the country’s larger architecture of justice.

He told the graduates that their legal education should equip them with resilience under pressure, clarity amid confusion and the courage to stand up during change. Professional reputation, he added, would be built through a sustained pursuit of excellence, especially when compromise or shortcuts appear tempting.

Before ending his address, Justice Kant remembered Urvashi Krishnatra, an NLSIU graduate who had died, and offered condolences to her family and friends.