Justice Permod Kohli Delivers Commencement Address at MIET School of Law
Dec 05, 2022
JAMMU: MIET marked another significant milestone with the establishment of a high-quality School of Law which commenced operations from the session 2022-23. Justice Permod Kohli, Former Chief Justice, Sikkim High Court was the Chief Guest on the occasion.
The other dignitaries present on the occasion were Prof. Ankur Gupta, Director, MIET, Prof. S.K. Sharma, Advisor to Chairperson, MIER, Dr. Sunita Zalpuri Kaul, Dean, School of Law, Dr. Sahil Sawhney, General Manager, Strategic Initiatives and Faculty Members from the School of Law.
Prof. Ankur Gupta, Director, MIET presented the welcome address. He described Justice Permod Kohli as a son of the soil, who through the dint of his hard work carved out a glittering legal career.
Describing him as a legal luminary, he felt that Justice Kohli's life journey is truly inspirational, especially for the new batch of students who are entering the legal profession. He further explained the rationale of starting the BBA LLB (Hons.) program at MIET as such a combination of management and law was not available to the students across J&K at present. With an innovative and modern curriculum focusing on imparting real skills, he expressed confidence that future lawyers from the MIET School of Law shall be able to carve a niche for themselves.
Justice Permod Kohli, Former Chief Justice, Sikkim High Court then delivered the commencement address for the inaugural batch of 120 students. Justice Kohli addressed the students as the "members of legal fraternity" and congratulated them for choosing a profession which seeks to uphold justice and fairness.
While highlighting the importance of the legal profession, Justice Kohli referred to the various legal luminaries who strongly contributed to the Indian freedom struggle starting from Mahatma Gandhi to Bal Gangadhar Tilak to Sardar Patel. Further, he also emphasized that the legal field is a highly demanding profession which requires hard work, sincere effort, and dedication. Justice Kohli stressed upon the 3 R's which are essential for a law student to excel professionally i.e., Reading, Reading, and Reading.
Justice Kohli outlined the changing trends in the legal field, expressing that the legal profession has now become a profession by choice, unlike the old days when it was more of a last resort for students. He highlighted that India needs 2 million new lawyers to meet the demand and thus the students have various avenues and opportunities to make a successful career.
He stressed upon the professional ethics and values, a lawyer should imbibe towards his client, society, and the judiciary. He quoted the statement of Lord Denning that "It is the lawyers who have made the law what it is" and thus there is an onus on students to maintain the dignity of the profession.
Justice Kohli also interacted with students on certain contemporary issues at the end of his address wherein students asked interesting questions related to law and the profession. Dr. Sunita Zalpuri Kaul, Dean, School of Law presented the Vote of Thanks.
The event was seamlessly coordinated by Bhanu Partap Singh Sambyal, Assistant Professor, School of Law.
