KIIT Law School in Association with the Centre for Environmental Law, Education, Research and Advocacy (CEERA), National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru under the aegis of Department of Justice, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India held a one-day Workshop on “Legal Literacy and Legal Awareness in Odisha” on 27th August 2022.
The workshop was graced by Hon’ble Dr. Justice Sanjeeb Kumar Panigrahi, Judge, High Court of Orissa; Prof. (Dr.) Sairam Bhat, Prof. of Law, NLSIU- Bengaluru; Prof. (Dr.) Bhavani Prasad Panda, KIIT Law School; Ms. Gayathri Gireesh, CEERA, NLSIU; Mr. Smruti Ranjan Mohapatra, Deputy Director, Odisha State Legal Services Authority, Cuttack; Mr. Manas Ranjan Mohapatra, Senior Advocate, High Court of Orissa; and Mr. Prateek Mishra from KIIT Law School along with senior faculty members. The workshop saw a participation of 150 students, who also included students from other law colleges like National Law School Odisha, Cuttack and Utkal Law School.
Speaking on the occasion, Justice Sanjeeb Panigrahi stressed upon the dire need to ‘Indianize’ the legal system as it is not accessible to the bulk of the masses. This can only be done when language as a barrier is removed, along with the fact that one should be ready for pro bono work as it is a great service to the people, he stated. Prof. Dr. Sairam Bhatt emphasized that non-litigation challenges with no clear answers are the roadblock in contributing to legal awareness.
The workshop ended with the briefing by Prof. (Dr.) Bhavani Prasad Panda, who inspired the students to be thorough with their basic concepts of law and inculcate a spirit of volunteerism. The event ended with a vote of thanks by Dr. Bishwa Kallyan Dash, Coordinator of the Workshop and the Project.