Sonipat, Nov 29: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Saturday said integrity is not an accessory to character but the discipline that upholds both justice and reputation, urging law students to make imaandari the foundation of their professional lives.
Speaking at OP Jindal Global University during an international convention on judicial independence, CJI Kant said integrity is essential in an era where misinformation, deep fakes and “digital arrests” have become routine. “Imaandari is not a mere ornament to character. It is the discipline that sustains both justice and reputation,” he said.
The CJI inaugurated the International Mooting Academy for Advocacy, Negotiation, Dispute Adjudication, Arbitration and Resolution (IMAANDAAR), as well as the world’s largest moot court, Nyayabhyasa Mandapam. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, MP and Chancellor Naveen Jindal, senior jurists and scholars were present.
Opening his address, he said, “They say, ‘integrity is what you do when no one is watching, and courage is what you do when everyone is.’ This captures the essence of what we inaugurate today.” The acronym IMAANDAAR, he noted, “embodies the very idea that the pursuit of justice must always aspire to integrity.”
CJI Kant told students that their moral compass will determine how long the Constitution remains strong. “Let integrity be the basic structure of your character and let nothing amend it,” he said.
On judicial independence, he recalled Constituent Assembly member Durgabai, who had said the judiciary must feel independent to deliver effective justice. “Her insight remains as urgent today as it was at the republic’s dawn,” he added.
The CJI said comparative judicial dialogue helps courts understand how justice systems retain credibility in changing times. “While our constitutions speak in their own idiom, their values are universal,” he said.
