Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant emphasised that true prudence lies in understanding when to speak and when silence is more powerful, urging young lawyers to balance the letter of the law with its deeper purpose.
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KOLKATA: Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant highlighted the crucial distinction between knowledge and prudence on Sunday, observing that while knowledge can be acquired rapidly through books and classrooms, prudence is shaped slowly through experience, reflection, and error.
Addressing the convocation ceremony of the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), Kolkata, where he serves as the Chancellor, the CJI said that prudence lies in understanding when to strictly apply the letter of the law and when to appreciate the purpose it seeks to serve.
“Prudence is knowing when to speak and when silence carries greater weight. It is knowing when to insist on the letter of the law and when to understand the purpose it seeks to serve,”
Justice Surya Kant said.
The convocation, held after a gap of four years, saw both graduate and postgraduate students receiving their degrees. The ceremony was attended by Supreme Court Justices Dipankar Dutta and Joymalya Bagchi, along with Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Sujoy Paul.
Highlighting the challenges of the modern era, the CJI remarked that society today functions in an atmosphere of immediacy, where opinions are formed instantly and responses are expected without pause.
“We live in an age of immediacy where opinions are formed instantly, and responses are expected without waiting. In such a world, judiciousness has become rare — and therefore deeply valuable,”
he said.
Justice Surya Kant cautioned young legal professionals that there will be moments where efficiency competes with fairness, and professional success measured only in numbers may feel strangely hollow.
“In those moments, rules alone will not guide you — your prudence will,”
he observed.
The CJI described the legal profession as not only intellectually demanding, but also emotionally and psychologically exacting. He noted that the profession expects stamina, rewards constant availability, and often normalises long working hours and compressed timelines.
Drawing from his decades-long judicial experience, he stressed the importance of balance:
“The ability to unwind and to slow down at the right intervals is not a retreat from professional responsibility. Rather, it is a way of sustaining it,”
he said.
Reflecting on the transition from legal education to professional practice, Justice Surya Kant reminded students that the reality of law often differs from academic learning.
“Files may be heavier than textbooks, timelines tighter than academic calendars, and outcomes far less predictable than classroom debates had suggested,”
he said.
He emphasised that legal education at its best does not provide ready-made solutions, but instead shapes the ability to think clearly when solutions are uncertain.
“It gives you the ability to remain steady when facts are uncomfortable, when interests collide, and when each conclusion feels inadequate,”
he noted.
Concluding his address, the CJI told the graduating students that the intellectual and ethical grounding developed during legal education does not fade after leaving university.
“That capacity does not disappear when you leave the university — it ripens as experience tests it,”
he said, exhorting the graduates and postgraduates as they step into the legal profession.
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