Be the voice of voiceless, Prez tells students of Odisha Law varsity

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Cuttack, Aug 8:

President Pranab Mukherjee today urged students of National Law University, Odisha (NLUO) to lend their voice to the voiceless yesterday while addressing the second annual convocation of the premier law school at the Judicial Academy here.

The address of the President of India was read by the Chancellor in his absence as he was unable to attend the event because of the sudden illness of the first lady. The President, it may be noted, had to cut short hos two-day Odisha visit and return to New Delhi yesterday.

In the speech, the President congratulated the graduating students and advised them to have a sense of duty to fight injustice and stay at the forefront against criminality, domestic violence, caste discrimination and other forms of exploitation.

He also added that it is important to represent the powerless and obtain justice for them. He further stressed the importance of the Indian constitution as a powerful guarantor of justice, liberty and equality and urged the graduating students to have it at the bottom of their heart. He also emphasised the cause of democracy and said the students would serve the cause well by engaging themselves with the issues pertaining to national interest.

152 students were conferred degrees on the occasion; out of which 109 were undergraduate students, 55 were B.A.  L.L.B students and another 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. There was one Ph.D degree awarded.

A total of 16 gold medals were given to students in the convocation ceremony this year. The Ph.D degree and the L.L.M Degrees for batch 2013-14 were given by the Visitor, NLUO.

While the L.L.M degrees for batch 2014-15 were given by Justice Gopala Gowda, Supreme Court of India Judge, B.A.L.L.B degrees were awarded by Justice Amitava Roy, Supreme Court of India Judge and the B.B.A.L.L.B degrees were given by the Chancellor.

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 on the occasion.