CJI honours legal educationist Madhava Menon, presents memorial award to Attorney General

Kochi, CJI Surya Kant on Saturday paid tribute to eminent legal educationist Prof N R Madhava Menon and presented the second Memorial 'Tribute of Honour' Award, instituted in his memory, to Attorney General of India R Venkataramani.

The award ceremony was held at a hotel in Kochi and attended by Kerala High Court Chief Justice Soumen Sen.

In his inaugural address, the chief justice of India recalled Menon's contributions to legal education and institution-building in the country, saying his vision had shaped generations of lawyers, judges and legal scholars.

Menon founded the National Law School of India University in Bengaluru in 1986 and pioneered the five-year integrated LLB programme, which transformed the landscape of legal education in the country, he said.

He subsequently established the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences in Kolkata and the National Judicial Academy in Bhopal.

"Law, when taught rightly, is an instrument of social transformation, and not merely a licence to practise a trade," Kant said.

He also highlighted Menon's emphasis on legal aid and his belief that the poor and marginalised should remain at the centre of legal education.

The CJI recalled that Menon had enrolled as an advocate at the Kerala High Court before emerging as a nationally recognised figure in legal education.

Even during his later years in Keralam, he continued to contribute to the legal fraternity by facilitating the continuing education of advocates, he said.

Speaking about the award recipient, Kant said Venkataramani had joined Government Law College in Pondicherry in 1974, where he came under Menon's mentorship. Menon had taken over as the institution's principal in the same year.

Describing their association as a lasting teacher-student bond, the CJI said Venkataramani had carried his mentor's values throughout his nearly five-decade-long career at the Bar.

Venkataramani had argued cases relating to constitutional law, environmental law, taxation, tribal rights and the rights of women and children before the Supreme Court, he said.

Referring to his role as the union government's chief legal adviser, Kant said the Attorney General had discharged his responsibilities with a measured, principled and courteous approach.

Describing the award as more than a personal distinction, the CJI said it recognised the enduring legacy of a teacher whose contributions to legal education lived on through his students and the institutions he had established.

"Our truest monuments are not made of stone. They are the minds we shape and the institutions we leave behind," he said.

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