PATNA, Jan. 4 -- Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Surya Kant on Saturday said that "law draws its legitimacy from the people it protects". "Law is not just for those who can afford it, but for anyone who is in dire need of it," he said delivering the Convocation Address at the convocation ceremony of Chanakya National Law University (CNLU), Patna. Exhorting the graduating students to use their skills for people's benefit, he said "the question is not whether you have learned the law; it is whether you are ready to reshape it, to bend the arc of justice towards the communities that need it the most". "When you use your abilities to give voice to the unheard and dignity to the overlooked, you will be honouring not only your education, but the Constitutional promise that underpins it," the CJI added. Maintaining that "law has an uncanny knack of humbling even the most prepared minds", he said it is not an indictment of one's ability, but an invitation to grow and to develop resilience. He also thanked the Bihar government for giving seven acres of additional land to the CNLU, which would be a long term investment in education. "After all, the life of law has not been logic, it has been experience. Bihar, the cradle of great thinkers of logic and jurisprudence, has been a meeting point of ethics, reason and justice. Bihar has shaped ideas that speak not merely to faith, but to fairness in public life. They remind us that justice is not an abstract concept, but a lived commitment -- to reduce suffering, to act without bias, and to place human dignity at the centre of all decision making," he added. He said that the world the young law graduates would step into is complex, impatient and often contradictory. "The law is also unfinished -- constantly evolving, something struggling to keep pace with reality. You should aspire to be lawyers who are grounded in self-belief, steadfast in the face of setbacks, and human enough to remember that law is a profession you serve, not a force that should consume you," he added. Earlier, CNLU VC Faizan Mustafa, in his welcome address, highlighted the transformative journey of the institution, with a series of academic reforms, launch of new programmes and foreign collaboration in the last two years to be an aspiring globally-benchmarked institution of higher legal education. Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice Rajesh Bindal of the Supreme Court, Action CJ of the Patna HC and CNLU Chancellor Sudhir Singh, Bar Council of India chairman and Rajya Sabha member Manan Kumar Mishra, Advocate General PK Shahi, Bihar education minister Sunil Kumar were among a host of dignitaries present on the occasion. At the convocation, the highest number of 34 Doctoral and Post Doctoral degrees were conferred. Besides, there were 339 master's degree recipients and 761 graduates. The CJI and other dignitaries also awarded 76 medals across various domains to students. Earlier, the CJI inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of various infrastructure projects, with an estimated cost of over Rs.300-crore, at the Patna HC to usher in greater transparency and improve efficiency. Later on Saturday, CJI Surya Kant laid the foundation stone of the new state-of-the-art campus of the Bihar Judicial Academy at Potahi in the outskirts of Patna. Addressing the gathering on the occasion, he said that judicial education could not remain 'static or episodic' at a time when public expectations from the justice delivery system "are higher than ever, and rightly so". "The judiciary today operates in an environment of unprecedented change. The courts are increasingly called upon to address disputes arising from technological innovation, economic complexity, social transformation and evolving rights jurisprudence. Continuous learning is essential for maintaining judicial relevance and credibility and it is where the important role of judicial academy comes into play," he added. Citing the emerging challenges from digital arrest and growing instances of cyber frauds, the CJI said "the judges must remain intellectually agile, socially aware and ethically grounded", while the judicial academies serve as an institutional mechanism through which this ongoing education is structured and sustained to meet the emerging challenges. "Such ceremonies are not mere ritualistic, they in fact symbolise continuity and collective responsibility. While the land is consecrated for an institution, dedicated to Judicial training and learning, it marks conscious reaffirmation of our faith in justice as a living Constitutional value. Buildings may rise from soil and stone, but institutions are ultimately shaped by ideas, discipline and character," he added. Maintaining that the judiciary derives its moral authority not from physical structure alone, but from the trust reposed in it by the people, he said the trust is nurtured through learning, reflections and unwavering commitment to fairness. "The courts function through judges but judges are also shaped by training. Judicial academies are, therefore, silent pillars that sustain the justice delivery system. It is where legal knowledge is refined, ethical judgment is sharpened and institutional values are transmitted across generations," he added. Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice Rajesh Bindal of the Supreme Court, Action CJ of the Patna HC and CNLU Chancellor Sudhir Singh, Patna HC Chief Justice designate Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo, Bar Council of India chairman and Rajya Sabha member Manan Kumar Mishra, Advocate General PK Shahi and Bihar education minister Sunil Kumar also took part in the events attended by the CJI....