The SBA on behalf of the Alumni & student fraternity of Hidayatullah National Law University pays its sincerest homage to Late Hon’ble Justice Ajay Kumar Tripathi, the 12th Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Chhattisgarh and serving as honourable Judicial Member of Lokpal until his sad demise late night yesterday, May 2, 2020 succumbing to a cardiac arrest during his ongoing battle with the COVID-19 infection. Deepest condolences are extended by the community to his kith and kin.
Of all the revered Chancellors the University has been bestowed with, the alumni and students have particularly been blessed with the guidance of Late Justice Tripathi, as within months of joining the office at Bilaspur, he had adeptly handled the situation and demands arising out of the famed HNLU Protest of 2018, and had been a constant strategic and administrative support, both upfront and latent, at times crucial for the student body against their fight for rights.
Addressing a victorious gathering of HNLU students at the Auditorium with what is cherished as one of the most legendary and scintillating speeches of the University’s history, the Hon’ble former Chancellor had finally instilled a sense of closure to anxious students and marked the infusion of new hopes and new milestones for us all to lead HNLU to, a change we have started to witness now.
A host of young members of the legal fraternity will always know you for more than what you’ve done over the Bench, and for their home- our home, Sir. May you rest in peace and continue your blessings upon us all. Excerpts from his last address to his ‘children’:
“I saw so many smiling faces. Keep it that way. I’m getting a little emotional. I don’t want my children to suffer. The day I came to know that my children are going on a fast, I could neither sleep nor eat properly. That was the day I decided that curtains have to be drawn on the era which is the reason for all the friction and bad blood which was created in the university. Friends, Romans and countrymen, I have not come to bury Caesar. Caesar has already been buried on the 3rd. I have come to bury the past. Let’s draw the curtains on the bygone era. We have to now
start building it afresh….The czar is toppled. The time to build the nation has begun..”