Address at the Inauguration of Army Institute of Law

LEGAL SYSTEM AND ITS DIMENSIONS

I am indeed delighted to participate in the inauguration of the new campus of the Army Institute of Law. My greetings to the Rector, faculty members and the students of the Institute on this occasion. I congratulate the Rector and faculty members for their contribution in shaping the young minds to achieve excellence in legal studies.

Leadership for the first vision of the nation to achieve independence was given by the legal community, which was in the forefront of the movement. As you are aware, India has a second +vision of transforming into a developed nation by the year 2020. I would like to suggest, the legal fraternity assembled here to think in what way, they could contribute for the second vision of the nation, which is transforming India into a developed nation. I will be discussing this aspect in my talk.

Transformation of India into a developed nation requires contribution from various sections of the society, particularly from the young legal community. The administration of law and justice should take into account the overall impact of the judgements on the process of societal transformation and welfare of the citizens at large. The rate of change of national development is directly proportional to the functional efficiency of the legal system, the quality and speed of judgement. This aspect has to be incorporated at the teaching stage.

What can be the mission of the Law students? Particularly, when you as professional lawyers go out of the army school of law? Did you acquire any unique knowledge being in this campus? What is the type of syllabus, what is the knowledge that you uniquely have? I understand that you will be learning one of the subjects military law. Who are your teachers? It is possible you may have teachers from the regular teachers from the law profession and teachers of the army with unique experience. Also you will have an advantage, learning the law in a disciplined environment.

Keeping this aspect in mind I would like to share my thoughts on the topic "Legal System and its dimensions" for national development.

Law, Is It Universal?

Law and judiciary have very important role in development of a society. Law essentially plays the balancing role and enables justice and fair play when new opportunities and challenges are opening up in the developing society. In the earlier phase of Indian history before foreign invasions, the laws were basically catering to maintain the then prevailing social order, good morality and upliftment of all segments of the society. With time, the social system had gradually become more and more complex. In the present period such complexities have further grown rapidly with modern industrialization, commercialization tremendous increase in population and resultant increase in scarcity of natural resources. As the Law has to address the imbalances in the society and protection of all the people, gradually, in all countries, laws have progressively become more and more national and specialised in character.

Majesty of law and justice

Every citizen in the country has a right to live with dignity; every citizen has a right to aspire for distinction. Availability of a large number of opportunities to resort to just and fair means in order to attain that dignity and distinction is what democracy is all about. That is what our Constitution is all about. And that is what makes life wholesome and worth living in a true and vibrant democracy.

At this point, I would like to remind all of you that at social levels it is necessary to work for Unity of Minds. The increasing intolerance for views of others and increasing contempt about ways of lives of others or their religions or the expressions of these differences through lawless violence against people cannot be justified in any context. All of us have to work hard and do everything to make our behaviours civilised to protect the rights of every individual. That is the very foundation of the democratic values to become an enlighten citizen of the country which I believe is our civilisational heritage and the very soul of our nation. Nobility is the foundation of the legal system and it is the responsibility of every component of the legal system to preserve it.

Laws driven by national priorities

Opportunities for rapid industrial and economic growth today co-exist with new problems arising out of trade competition and corporate mergers and take-over. Many tiny and small sectors of industries and even artisan goods will be facing the forces of modernization in the form of market forces, technologies and other forms of public information system including advertisements. There are major issues of protecting the local and global environment. Let us look at science and technology which has emerged as a strong force during the current period of human history. Basically science and technology is driven by human curiosity and reasoning and in its best sense aimed at spreading benefits to all people. They are basically universal in outlook. Similarly, laws are meant to protect people, their rights and make them feel secure in the society. I think this is the common meeting ground of Law, Science and Technology, People and Society. Legal instruments must maximize the benefits for our people and nation. Laws must protect the indigenous technologies and trade to the extent they impact peoples living and their welfare as well as ensure national interest.

Information based legal advisory

We have to start use of Information and communication Technology (ICT) in legal dispute resolution at the grass root level. I understand that there are a very large number of civil and criminal cases under the consideration are accumulating particularly in High Courts and District Courts. Pending cases in various courts leads to enormous mental stress, agony, hatred, loss of transparency and huge loss of earning & wastage of manpower and delay in the progress of national development. ICT tools can be used to create an electronic advisory system to assist the public / local agencies as reportedly made available in healthcare through Internet. Legal Mentoring and revitalizing village panchayat system through electronic connectivity to the Courts by using ICT will create human rights awareness among the common public.

Cyber Law

Economic prosperity by 2020 will also mean that many of the Indians will be doing business in the digital world on the web. In this new era, crime, law and justice will be completely different from the present. In the present law, for example, the jurisdiction will correspond to the location where the crime is committed and where the damage occurs - very often both being the same location. Whereas in the digital world, the crime may originate from a strange place even outside our own shores and may damage organizational wealth which will be in the digital form in multiple locations. In the 20th century, a nation's business transactions and wealth creation were based on transfer of materials (atoms) from one place to the other. In the 21st century wealth is created whenever information in the form of electrons is transferred across the networks in a borderless world. Indian judicial system has to build its capacity to define jurisdictions in a way that any crime committed against India or her assets by anyone from anywhere shall be punishable by Indian law. It may be true for other countries also. The legal community must enable formulation of progressive and innovative laws for the digital economy that will be one of the vital components of a developed nation.

Military Law

Military Law has been derived for enforcing discipline among the armed forces personnel serving both in the operational and peace areas. It provides summary powers for the commanders at various levels. The Indian Armed Forces have gradually become knowledge workers with the growth in the education level and the technological progress made in the equipment regime. The management of knowledge workers is slightly different from the conventional system of managing the soldiers. The commanding officers at all levels have to use the powers vested with them judiciously for getting the best out of the men under their command. Also over a period of time number of decisions taken by the district and general court marshals have been reviewed in the High Courts and Supreme Courts, leading to revision of orders. There is a need to make a systematic study of such revisions and suggest appropriate modifications to the Army, Air Force and Navy Act. I suggest the Army Institute of Law can carry out a special study on this subject by evaluating hundred typical judgements.

Conclusion

I am happy to note that out of 318 who are on the rolls of this Institute, as many as 134 are girls. This is significant. I have always maintained that girls' education is the one factor that leads to women's empowerment and consequently, integrated development and progress of the society. Any study of the development of a nation would unmistakably indicate the effect that girls education had a crucial role to play in such development. I must congratulate the officers and men of our Army for ensuring that such a large contingent of girls has decided to pursue education in law at this Institute. It is also gratifying to note that 20% of the students are from the civil category. This is also essential. In fact, such a healthy mix would definitely pave the way for the integrated development of each individual in this Institute. I have great pleasure in inaugurating this new and magnificent Army Institute of Law here at Mohali. I wish the Institute all success and a bright future.

When you graduate from law institutions, you are carrying with you expertise in the field of law and also certain value system imparted by the teachers and the environment of the academy. The success in your profession will be dependent on your professional integrity and nobility in all your endeavours.

My best wishes to all of you in your legal mission of safeguarding the rights of our citizens.