vALEDICToRy ADDRBSS roR trt ASIAPARLIAMENTARY DBBATE CHAMPIONSHIP' THE

PITCH.2O|1'

Organised By

ARMY INSTITUTE OF LAW, MOHALIDATE: 23RD January 2}fl; Time: 1530 Hrs

(Speech timing fi.om 1 606- 1616 FIrs)

we all should be proud of belonging to the largest and greatest

democracy in the world. The constitution, a living and organic

document, controls the governance of 1.2 billion people speaking more

than 300 languages through a Parliarnentary Government System. India

is a parliamentary democracy and legalistic federalism was introduced as

a technique of governance by the people of India, for the people of India,

adopting, enacting and giving unto themselves the Constitution of India

on November 25, 1949. The legislative competence and power of the

respective constituents have been demarcated by Arti cles 245 and 246 of

the Constitution while fields thereof are enumerated in First, Second and

Third Lists respectively of Schedule VII appended to the Constitution of

India. It will, therefore, be seen that the sovereignty of parliament and the

State Legislatures is a sovereignty of enumerated entries, but within the

ambit of an entry, the exercise of power is as plenary as any legislature

'can possess, subject, of course, to the limitations arising from the

Fundamental Rights. The entries themselves do not follow any logical

classification or dichotomy. These are the paramount sources for

enactment of laws. As we all know that Indian Parliament is bicameral

consisting of the Upper House and the Lower House and members of

both the Houses are elected through democratic process.

The eminent parliamentarians discuss threadbare, debate and then

enact laws for the nation having great history, culture and heritage. A

statute is expected to be the final product of a healthy and productive

debate deciding on the utility and efficiency of the motion or the Bill.

The conflicting opinions ought not to undermine the dignity of the

democratic process. Commenting on this democratic process the great

philosopher Aristotle said,"If liberty und equulity, as is thought by some

are chiefly to be found in democracy, they witt be best uttained when all

persons alike share in the government to the utmost.

For accurate interpretation and application of laws, it is vital that

one discern how these laws are made and what is the procedure to be

followed while enacting laws? For proper discerning one needs to

understand the functioning of the law making bodies.

It is heartening to know that the Army Law Institute, Mohali has

organized an event, f,rrst of its kind, being "Asia parliamentary Debate

Championship, The Pitch-2}II". A11 of you must have discussed various

facets of parliamentary system threadbare and objectively. Participation

by 23 institutes from all over the country by itself is a fact that deserves

commendation.

Thus, at the very threshold, I would convey my sincere sense

gratitude to the organizing authorities and participants and students

this Law Institute for having made me a part of this memorable event.

The law students of today are going to be eminent lawyers, judges,

law professors, ministers, IAS officers and jurists in future and "Law", as

such, will be their playing field, therefore it is an indispensable necessity,

especially for law students, to have complete and proper understanding of

the legislative scheme laid down in the Constitution and the

Parliamentary system of our demoaraay.

of

of

I would like to tell the students that they are lucky to get

opportunities like this for interaction and healthy competition with their

peers from different countries and it is an excellent avenue for exchange

of knowledge and information and they should grab such an opportunity

to learn and use this knowledge for betterment of themselves as a person

and betterment of the nation as Opportunities are like Sunrises tf you

wuit for too long you will miss them.

Such an exposure will help a great deal in education of students

Education is not onlyand their overall personality development.

gathering of information. In my opinion there are three aspects of

education. Firstly, higher the education higher should be the degree of

humanity and humility; Secondly, education must inspire a person to

spread knowledge; and Thirdly, education must develop capacity and

capability to critically examine things without being prompted to reject

ideas outright and condemn them . As Dalai Lama once said, "Education

and warm heart- if you combine these two, then your education, your

knowledge will be constructive... "

The real meaning of education is that it enables us to stand on our

own legs. It must appear to be a system or technique which would

transmit civilization to its proper ends and make the society a better place

'to live. It must help to provide an element of confidence, sacrifice and

affection rather than it to be a mere instrument in taking life as a race

simpliciter.

Swami Vivekananda had said:

Educution is the manifestution of the perfection, ulready in mun.

In other words, it must help to carve the personality of the young

and permit the emergence of hidden power of the young mind. Education

is not about facts but about the values behind it. Your brilliance alone in

the academic field is not the ultimate end of education but what is more

important is to become a better human being.

Irrespective of the profession you choose to pursue you must

always try to achieve excellence. It is possible that initially, you may fail

or you may face difficulties but ultimately it is your strong inner desire to

achieve your goal that will eventually lead you to success.

As Pandit Nehru said, and I quote, "not failure but low aim is u

crime."

Thus, values and intellectual curiosity would enable the student to

continue, nay, to intensi$2, the process of learning after he has come out

of the comfortable cocoon of the University and is thrown in the

maelstrom of life.

I would also like to pay my tribute to the teachers and professors

here, they are the ones who trim the silver lamp of knowledge and keep

its sacred flame bright from generation to generation. They expend their

Iives on significant but unadvertised work. Quite few of them plough the

lonely furrow of scholarship. Their dedication bears witness to the

selflessness of the human spirit.

Since eternity the place of teachers in our Indian society is

compared to god:

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I advice all the students here to follow this ancient Indian

philosophy and then only they will be able to complete their education in

the true sense. In earlier times, the society and the students used to

.otttid.t themselves just like clay in the hands of the teacher unlike the

present day, where they are like Calcified Gypsum, quite unmouldable,

stiff and self-obsessed. I sincerely hope that all of you, without

'exception, do not fall in that category and sincerely believe that whatever

you become tomorrow would be because of what your teachers made you

today and through yesteryears.

To imbibe the knowledge in your personality it is mandatory that

you respect the pious source from where it flows. It is not the books and

letters written in black ink which are the source of knowledge but it is

your teachers and scholars from whose minds it is originated and

conveyed to you.

"I am indebted to my futher for living, but to my teucher for

living well" were the words of Alexander the Great you should always

remember.

Further, I would like to highlight the duties and obligations of you

young minds, the torch bearers of the future, towards society and the

nation.

Students, more particularly the law students, hold the key to shape

the future of a nation and thus they have an absolute duty and obligation

towards the nation and the society. They must understand that role of

lawyers and judges in the society is that of Healers of Conflict and thus,

in the fascination of courtroom proceedings and materialistic

accomplishments they should never forget that betterment of society,

helping of needy and poor and contributing towards progressive

development of the nation is the ultimate aim of their education.

The students are best placed in the social set-up to undertake the

task of re-engineering the process of resolution of disputes in the society

by making the best use of their education towards common welfare. The

law students have an additional responsibility towards the society as they

have to play the pivotal role of maintaining the 'rule of law' and carry the

torch of 'justice' for all. Law students may be attracted to technique,

technology and economic aspects of commercial litigation but what is

important is to work for the under-privileged class whose aspirations are

reflected in the spirit of our Constitution.

The renowned scholar of ancient Rome, Marcus Tullius Cicero

(106 BC-43 BC) highlighted the fact that: "The welfure of people is the

ultimate law"

It is true that the societies, cultures, nations and communities who

cannot change as per need of time and those who refuse to accept the

change must expect disastrous results. Same may be said about law as it

emanates from the society itself. The values behind law remain stable but

the approach and applicability of law may be subject to constant change.

It is my advice that you should master new legal technology and

concepts. Enhancing technical abilities is going to help our legal system

to answer challenges before them in a better manner but your ultimate

aim should be welfare of the society. From your college days you must

learn tools of time management and try to implement them in every

sphere of your life so as to strengthen our nation and social fabric.

You should intensely aspire for deepening and broadening your

knowledge, learn to experience the power of collective team work, and

always be guided by higher values which you believe in.

Hungarian author Ferenc Santa in his famous novel 'The Fifth

Seal'has written the inspiring words,

"Every man hus his faults. It all depends on whether he hus

enough good qualities to counterbalunce them."

What I could advice the young generation is don't be too

materialistic and don't consider profit motive as an aim of their life. It

maybe means to achieving end of orderly society. we must shift our

"object oriented" view and build a society which is "human oriented,,.

Such shift towards humanistic society is the only solution to conquer

devils of racism and terrorism.

At this juncture I recall some lines of a poem by Robert Frost,

"I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and f-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.',

Globalisation has every risk of over commercializing any trade and

calling which essentially leads to drop in standards of that calling. It is

true that degeneration of moral fabric of the society also affects legal

profession. Woodrow Wilson once observed, "Law is the crystalisation

of the habit und thought of the societlf'.

Now it's the duty of the generation of yours which has the

obligation and responsibility not to be affected by the adverse effects of

globalization and commerc ialization rather reap its benefits in a manner

which is advantageous for development of your personality and welfare

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of the society as a whole and especially the poor and disadvantaged

section.

In all your endeavours you must remember the Jantar of our father

of nation 'Mahatma Gandhi', which most of you have read in your school

books that be-fore initiating any action you should. remember the -face of

A11 of you are gathered here for a 'competition' and as defined in

the words of Henry cIay, an ex-American secretary of State, orof all

human powers operuting on the uffiirs of mankind, none is greater

thsn that of competition." In my opinion this observation, made in the

early 19th century still holds true.

The advantages of perfect competition are three-fold: allocative

efficiency, which ensures the effective allocation of available resources,

productive efficiency, which ensures that costs of production are kept at a

minimum and dynamic efficiency, which promotes innovative practices.

This very philosophy of competition is applicable to our markets

also and has prompted the Governments to enact competition laws to

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think that how are

protect as well as ensure growth of their markets. Most countries in the

'world have enacted competition laws to protect their free market

economies- an economic system in which the allocation of resources is

determined solely by supply and demand. The rationale of free market

economy is that the competitive offers of different suppliers allow the

buyers to make the best purchase. If we genera\ize the expression it

ascribes the motivation of each participant in a competition as

maximization of self-interest but the result is favourable to the society.

Today, the price and availability of each and every good and service are

governed by the competition in the market. From 'onions' to 'Air travel'

the concept of demand and supply, availability and their prices are

dependent on the competition in that particular sector.

But competition should not be cut-throat rather it should be healthy

aiming at effective allocation of resources and increasing efficiency,

innovation and creativity which will ultim ately further the goal of social

welfare and advancement. Competition is a mechanism especially

devised to raise the level of all, it's not about winning and loosing rather

it is about improving yourself. In a competition each and every

competitor is benefited as all of them put forward the best of their efforts

t2

and no matter they loose or win at the instance, eventually it is a victory

as the efforts put in by them had raised their level and they would have

never tried that hard in absence of such competition. Ultimately,

increased efficiency in the level of individuals results in betterment of the

society as a whole.

But in our efforts to thrive in a competition what we should not

forget is our humanity and humility. We should keep in the back of our

mind that whatever efforts we are putting in are not only for the

advancement of ourselves but ultimately for our nation and society.

I must now congratulate the participants for the efforts they have

made for excelling in this competition. By now they must have realised

that no matter whether they are the winners or runner-ups or had secured

no position in this very event, actually they all are winners as they have

gained in their knowledge and skills during the course of their

preparation and participation in the event. You should continue your

endeavours with great zeal and zest to achieve higher goals in your life.

I recall words of famous writer Jim Lewis form one of his books,

"It is a whole lot more satisfying to reach for the stars, even if you end

up landing only on the moon".

I3

Friends there are no constant winners and

'or for that matter in any filed of life. I must

Roosevelt once said:

losers in the field of law

tell you what Theodore

ult is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points

out how the strong mun stumbled, or where the doer of

deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the

msn who is actually in the urena, whose face is marred

with dust and sweat and blood, who slrives variantry, who

errs and comes short ugain and aguin, who knows the

great enthusiasms, the great devotions, und spends himsetf

in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and

who ut least fails while daring greutly so that his place

shall never be with those cold und timid sours who know

neither victory nor defeut."

The virtues which will build your character and see you through in

all adversities of life are humanity, humility, respectfulness and honesty.

Always aim high with good intentions and devote your sincere efforts

towards the goal and rest assured that sooner or later will succeed. You

should always remember a common man on the road who expects social

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and economic justice in reality and you should do your best to help the

poor strata of the society. These are the few suggestions that I make

with a request to all of you to ponder over them. It may be an

unsolicited advice but still, I would choose to make them as the words of

Mr. N.A. Palkhivala sound in my mind:

"There are two kinds of fools

give advice and those who do

belong to the Jirst category, in

belong to the second."

in this world. Those who

not take it. I propose to

the hope that you will not

I will not miss the opportunity here to convey my best wishes to

the winners of the 1't Asia Parliamentary Debate Championship 'The

Pitch-2011'and I urge them not to let this single achievement occupy

their minds and they should continue their commendable efforts to

ensure excellence in their future endeavours also.

I againthank all concerned for inviting me to the Pitch-2011.

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