Nagpur: The 2nd Convocation of the Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur (MNLU) was held on Saturday, February 10, 2024, at its campus in Waranga, Nagpur.
The convocation was presided over by the Chancellor of the University, Hon’ble Shri Justice B.R. Gavai, Judge, Supreme Court of India, and attended by other eminent dignitaries including Hon’ble Shri Justice Vikram Nath, Judge, Supreme Court of India, who was the chief guest; Hon’ble Shri Justice Sharad A. Bobde, Former Chief Justice of India and the Founder Chancellor of MNLU, Nagpur as the distinguished guest, in the presence of Hon’ble Shri Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, Chief Justice, High Court of Bombay and Pro-Chancellor of the university; Hon’ble Shri Justice V.S. Sirpurkar, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India; Hon’ble Shri Justice Atul S. Chandurkar, Judge, High Court of Bombay, Bench at Nagpur; Hon’ble Shri Justice Nitin Sambre, Administrative Judge, High Court of Bombay, Bench at Nagpur; Hon’ble Shri Justice Anil Kilor, Judge, High Court of Bombay, Bench at Nagpur; Dr. Vijender Kumar, Vice Chancellor of MNLU, Nagpur; and Dr. Ashish J. Dixit, Registrar of MNLU, Nagpur. Hon’ble Shri Justice B.R. Gavai, Judge, Supreme Court of India formally opened the convocation.
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Tuesday25 Feb. 2025
Thereafter, the Chief Guest, Hon’ble Shri Justice Vikram Nath, Judge, Supreme Court of India, delivered the Convocation Address. He shared many anecdotes from his life and reminded the students that law professionals “stand for the common man, uphold the constitutional values and love [the] nation”. Wishing the students’ a “life full of learning, patience, satisfaction and good health”, he said, “Life is full of surprises where the plans may not always pan out, but always accept whatever comes with grace and give your best. Kaam karo aisa ki ek pechchan ban jaye, har kadam aisa chalo ki nishan ban jaye!”.
He also emphasized the importance of work-life balance by stating, “In this busy journey, make sure to spare sometime for you and the activities like poetry, sports and other which make you feel lively. Somethings you chose and somethings chose you.”
Prof. (Dr.) Vijender Kumar, Vice Chancellor of MNLU Nagpur, presented the University’s Annual Report, highlighting the successful conduct of its inaugural elections for the Student Bar Council in October 2023.
MNLU implemented policies such as the Teaching Assistantship Policy, Remedial Classes Policy, and Menstrual Leaves for Students’ Policy in 2024, fostering an environment supportive of intellectual growth. Additionally, he mentioned that MNLU secured funding from the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) for two ongoing research projects and was honored with the prestigious Fulbright-Nehru Specialist Program for the academic year 2023-24 as well.
Among the various activities undertaken at the University, one notable event that merits attention is the Extra Credit Course on “Affirmative Action under the Constitution” offered by Former Chief Justice of India, Hon’ble Shri Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, who is also a Distinguished Professor at the University.
Vice Chancellor also informed the audience that the University is honoured to have Hon’ble Shri Justice B.P. Dharmadhikari, Former Chief Justice, High Court of Bombay; Hon’ble Shri Justice R.C. Chavan and Hon’ble Shri Justice R.K. Deshpande, former Judges of High Court of Bombay as Professor(s) of Practice at the University.
A total of 136 degrees were conferred by the Chancellor upon the graduating students, including 93 B.A.LL.B.(Hons) degrees to the 2018 batch, 37 one-year LL.M Post Graduate degrees to the 2021 and 2022 batches, and 6 Ph.D. degrees. The University awarded a total of 21 gold medals: 20 for UG students and 01 to LL.M. Student.
Shreya Tripathi, who earned six gold medals, including the prestigious Gold Medal for the Best Student for overall excellence (female). Additionally, Shreya was honoured with the esteemed Hansadevi Chudaman Patel Gold Medal for achieving the Highest Marks in the B.A.LL.B.(H) course among Female students. Furthermore, she excelled in four other subjects, securing the Adv. B.G. Chaudhari Gold Medal for Jurisprudence, the Adv. Benoy Kumar De Gold Medal for Property Laws, the Sr. Adv. C.S. Kaptan Gold Medal for Family Law, and the Hinesh R. Doshi & Co. LLP Gold Medal for Taxation Laws.
Similarly, Saharshrarchi Uma Pandey distinguished himself by earning five gold medals, including the Gold Medal for Best Student for overall excellence (male). He also received the Shri Hiralal Chudaman Patel Gold Medal for achieving the Highest Marks in B.A.LL.B.(H), the Shrui Chhaganlalji Daga Gold Medal for Alternative Disputes Resolution (ADR), the
Smt. Sulabha Dharmadhikari Gold Medal for Constitutional Law (among Male students), and the Dr. Purshottam Laxman Bhandarkar Gold Medal for Principles of Legislations and Interpretation of Statutes. Furthermore, Ruchir Joshi was honored with the Adv. S.Y. Sirpurkar Gold Medal for achieving the Highest Marks in Law of Crime (Criminal Law-I – IPC) in B.A. LL.B. (H.), while Garima Upadhyay received the Sr. Adv. Shri K.H. Deshpande Gold Medal for the Highest Marks in Law of Evidence and the Adv. T.B. Mirza Gold Medal for the Highest Marks in Criminal Law- II – Cr.P.C. Other notable Awardees include Srishti Nigam, who was awarded the Adv. A.B. Oka Gold Medal for the Highest Marks in Code of Civil Procedure and Law of Limitation, Anushka Arora, who earned the Smt. Shivkumari Mishra Gold Medal for the Highest Marks in Law of Contract, and Omkar Upadhyay, who received the Adv. Shri Laxmanrao Khapre Gold Medal for the Highest Marks in Family Law-I.
Astha Tripathi was recognized with the Shri Padmakar Keshaorao Pande Gold Medal for achieving the Highest Marks in Constitutional Law among Female students and Adv. Gunawantrao Yadavrao Gharote Gold Medal for achieving highest marks in Intellectual Property Rights.
The ceremony ended with a concluding remark by the Chancellor, Hon’ble Shri Justice B.R. Gavai, Judge, Supreme Court of India, where he thanked the esteemed guest and encouraged the graduates and students by citing Dr. Ambedkar and saying, “Lawyers are not merely professionals but social reformers. Khudi ko kar buland itna ki har taqdeer se pehle khuda bande se khud pooche bata teri raza kya hai.” This was followed by the National Anthem.
