BR Gavai's candid advice to students: Don't put pressure on family finances to study abroad says CJI

Hans India

a day ago

Hyderabad: Chief Justice of India Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai has decried the growing trend of pursuing foreign degrees regardless of the financial position of the student's family. He cautioned students against doing so merely out of peer pressure, while emphasising that an international qualification was not necessarily a marker of excellence.
Delivering the convocation address as chief guest at the 22nd Convocation of the NALSAR University of Law here on Saturday, he advised students to go abroad on scholarships without putting their families under financial pressure as it would cost anywhere between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 70 lakh. Addressing law students, he said that instead they could start their office, and, upon achieving stability in the profession, go abroad for studies subsequently.
The CJI suggested that the trend of going abroad to study also reflected a lack of confidence in Indian postgraduate legal education and called for greater investment in LLM post-doctoral programmes within the country.
He emphasised the need to retain and nurture the best legal minds within India for the benefit of the nation's legal system.
The CJI said, 'Our country and the legal system are facing unique challenges. Delays in trials can sometimes go for decades. We have seen cases where someone has been found innocent after spending years in jail as an undertrial. Our best talent can help us resolve the problems that we are facing.'
The Chief Justice quoted Jed S Rakoff, a senior federal district judge in the United States in this connection. The American judge in his book, 'Why the Innocent Plead Guilty and the Guilty Go Free: And Other Paradoxes of Our Broken Legal System,' had made the following remark. 'Even though I conclude that our legal system is in bad need of fixing, I remain cautiously optimistic that my fellow (citizens) will rise to the challenge.' This comment of the American judge was quoted by CJI Gavai. At the same time, he acknowledged the isolating nature of the legal profession and the structural barriers that persist within it. Drawing on a study from the United States, he pointed out how legal careers were often shaped by one's starting point—a reality that holds good also in India, where National Law Universities enjoy a perception-based advantage over other institutions, not necessarily due to superior skills but due to structural privilege. Justice Gavai urged graduates to remain grounded in strong legal foundations even as the profession had evolved in response to new global and technological developments. He stressed the crucial role of mentorship in shaping ethical and capable lawyers.
Many who study abroad come back with renewed passion and fresh perspectives, but when they return, they often find institutions unwelcoming, under-resourced or closed to new ideas. There are few structured pathways for postdoctoral research, limited funding for early career scholars and opaque hiring processes that discourage even the most committed. 'This must change if we want to keep our best minds or bring them back. We must build nurturing academic environments, offer transparent and merit-based opportunities, and most importantly, restore dignity and purpose to legal research and training in India,' he said.
Justice Gavai advised the young passing-out graduates to know that friends, family, books, hobbies, health and imagination were the important things that should be kept intact always.