Asian Law College (ALC) organized a highly enlightening Live Interactive WEBINAR on ‘Constitution & Constitutionalism’ by Hon’ble Justice Shri Dr Arjan K. Sikri – considered to be an authority in Constitutional Law – for its B.A.LL.B. & LL.B. students and aspirants on Thursday, 28th May 2020 at 2:00 pm. The webinar presented itself as a truly scholarly affair for all whole who participated in it.
Hon’ble Justice Shri Dr Arjan Kumar Sikri is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India and has delivered over 900 judgements. He was chosen as one of the 50 most influential persons in Intellectual Property in the world in the year 2007 by Managing Intellectual Property Association (MIPA). Presently, he is an international Judge at the Singapore international commercial court, Singapore Supreme Court. He is also the chairperson of News Broadcasting Standards Authority. He has been a pioneer in introducing “Age Memo” as a legal tool for recording age by Police while investigation by taking cognizance of the letter addressed to him by a lawyer with regard to falsification of age of children, which stopped the illegal practice of incarnation of children as adult criminals. He has also played a vital role in sensitizing general masses through his judgements on various complex legal issues.
An initiative of Asian Education Group (AEG) – considered as the largest centre for professional media, IT, law, management, fashion & hospitality education in Asia with world-class facilities – this WEBINAR was jointly organized by Asian Law College (ALC) – which is a constituent group college of Asian Education Group and is ranked as one of the one of the best Law Colleges in Delhi NCR – for all BALLB & LLB students. Since this WEBINAR was a closed session, students were required to register prior for the same.
The webinar session started with the illustrious guest, Hon’ble Justice Shri Arjan K. Sikri thanking the ALC team for inviting him for this session. He also thanked all the students who were participating in this webinar amidst the challenging COVID-19 conditions. He mentioned that the ongoing pandemic situation was indeed a difficult phase of life which, he assured, “we all will surely overcome!” In this context, he did not fail to acknowledge that “webinars were the best way to utilize this time by continuing with the pursuance of academic lessons” and once again congratulated the students for joining this webinar with him.
The erudite speaker then introduced the topic of the current webinar, viz. ‘Constitution & Constitutionalism’. He said that the study of ‘Constitution’ was, in many ways, an integral part of every law student’s course curriculum, which he defined as “an instrument of governance of the country.” But, how did it differ from ‘Constitutionalism’? The learned speaker explained that while a ‘Constitution’ was basically a document on governance, that may not be sufficient for good governance. For that to happen, one needed to focus on the “essential attributes” required for such good governance – like Belief in Liberty & Equality, Separation of Powers (Checks & balances), Rule of Law, Responsible & Accountable Government, Respect for Individual Rights, Respect to Self-Determination, Respect for Dignity of Individuals, etc. – which may together be called ‘Constitutionalism’. According to him, “It is here that the concept of ‘Constitutionalism’ becomes more important in the act of social living and the formation of a Nation-State”.
The WEBINAR was then followed by a Q&A Session with the distinguished guest. Here, there was a barrage of questions related to the various sections and specific Articles of the Indian Constitution that were put forward by the enthusiastic students to which the knowledgeable speaker answered most authoritatively and convincingly to the complete satisfaction of the students and all participants.
In the end, in his message for the AEG students, the eminent guest, Hon’ble Justice Shri Dr Arjan K. Sikri quoted extract from the recent speech of ex-US president, Barrack Obama to students graduating in 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic wherein he asked the students to “not be afraid, always think right, ground yourself in values and always seek chances to help others in distress.” He closed his enlightening talk by giving a two-word mantra of success to students – viz., “Work Hard & Always be Honest!”