New Delhi, Oct 6
Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant inaugurated the second N. R. Madhava Menon Memorial Lecture in New Delhi on Monday, bringing together judges, lawyers, academics and students for discussions on compassion and human understanding in the administration of justice.
The programme was organised by the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in collaboration with the Commonwealth Legal Education Association.
Delivering the lecture, Supreme Court judge Justice Vikram Nath stressed that judicial compassion must remain firmly grounded in law, fairness and constitutional values. Justice Nath, Executive Chairman of the National Legal Services Authority, spoke on “Judging with Compassion: Human Understanding in the Practice of Law”.
Attorney General R. Venkataramani reflected on Menon’s life, vision and contribution to legal education. Professor S. Sivakumar, Senior Professor at the Indian Law Institute and President of the Commonwealth Legal Education Association, also addressed participants.
Justice Surya Kant released two publications, “Indian Personal Law: Unity and Diversity” and “Economics and Law in Context”. Sivakumar authored both books, co-writing the latter with Sougata Talukdar. The publications include forewords by Supreme Court judges.
Menon was the founding director of the National Law School of India University in Bengaluru. The university credits his work, together with support from the Karnataka government, Bangalore University and senior members of the Bar Council of India, with helping turn the vision for the institution into reality.
Established under a Karnataka law, NLSIU was among the first institutions in India to introduce a five-year integrated undergraduate law degree. Its first batch began studies in 1988.
The university’s account of its origins highlights Menon’s role in building an institution that introduced a new approach to professional legal training. His work provides the educational background to the memorial programme, which honours an educator closely associated with the development of India’s national law school model.
