JGU launches 10th Anniversary Jindal Global Lecture Series
JGU launched its 10th Anniversary Jindal Global Lecture Series on May 3, 2019. The Lecture Series will comprise 10 lectures. The first lecture titled Constitutional Justice & Learning, Thinking, Talking & Writing Formation was delivered by Professor (Dr.) Upendra Baxi, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Warwick on May 3, 2019 at JGU.
The second lecture titled The Indian Media: Freedom, Responsibility & Accountability was delivered by Mr. N. Ravi, Chairman, Press Trust of India and Director, Kasturi & Sons Ltd on 10 May 2019 at JGU.
He said the notion that any institution should be above criticism and the dignity and authority of judges need to be upheld by shielding them from normal scrutiny and critical remarks is “corrosive” to democratic values.
Contempt charges have been brought for criticism of the judicial system, and the courts themselves have started contempt action over reports on the personal conduct of judges and criticism of their administrative actions.
Read More: https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/notion-that-any-institution-should-be-above-criticism-corrosive-to-democratic-values-n-ravi-119051001355_1.html
About the Speakers
Upendra Baxi is a legal scholar, since 1996 professor of law in development at the University of Warwick, United Kingdom. He has been the vice chancellor of University of Delhi (1990–1994), prior to which he held the position of professor of law at the same university for 23 years (1973–1996). He has also served as the vice-chancellor of the University of South Gujarat, Surat, India (1982–1985). In 2011, he was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India, by the Government of India. He earned a LL.B. from Rajkot (Gujarat) University, holds LL.M. degrees from the University of Bombay and the University of California, Berkeley. Additionally, he holds a degree of Doctorate of Juristic Sciences (S.J.D.), also from the University of California, Berkeley. He taught law at Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, where he remained dean 1975–1978 and vice-chancellor of the university. He has taught various courses at Universities of Sydney, Duke University, the American University, the New York University Law School Global Law Program, the University of Toronto and the NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. He was a former Ford Foundation Professor of Human Rights at The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences in Kolkata, and was succeeded by Justice Ruma Pal. He has also served as the honorary director (research) at the Indian Law Institute (1985–1988) and the president of the Indian Society of International Law (1992–1995). Baxi’s areas of special expertise in teaching and research include comparative constitutionalism, social theory of human rights, human rights responsibilities in corporate governance and business conduct, and materiality of globalisation.
N. Ravi is a Director of Kasturi & Sons Ltd and former Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu. He is the Chairman of the India Chapter of the International Press Institute and member of the Executive Board of the International Press Institute, Vienna. He was President of the Editors’ Guild of India, Chairman of the Press Trust of India, India’s premier news agency and is now a Director on the Board of PTI. He was a member of the National Integration Council, Government of India, and from 2006 to 2008 of the National Security Advisory Board. He has a Master’s degree in economics and a degree in law, and has won several academic awards including a gold medal in constitutional and international law. He was a Fellow at the Harvard Law School in 2000 and Shorenstein Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University in 2004. In 2013, he was a Visiting Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, and St. Anthony’s College, Oxford University. He joined The Hindu in 1972, served as reporter, leader writer, Washington Correspondent, Deputy Editor and Associated Editor. He was Editor from 1991 to 2011 and Editor-in-Chief from October 2013 to January 2015. He has covered several international conferences and travelled with Prime Ministers and Presidents to cover international summits. His special areas of interest and writing include constitutional and political issues, economic policy, international economy, free speech and human rights, and India—U.S. relations. He is the recipient of several professional awards, including the G. K. Reddy Memorial Award and BREAD Role Model Award, and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati.
