Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant on Saturday held an open house dialogue with students at Chanakya National Law University (CNLU), Patna.

According to a press release issued by the University, the initiative was taken by the students, who invited the CJI to have a direct conversation with them. The session was organised by the University's Academic and Debating Committee and Legal Aid Cell.

Responding to a student's question on the police response to peaceful protests, the CJI said that the judiciary remains committed to protecting students' fundamental right to peaceful protest.

On financial difficulties faced by first-generation lawyers, the CJI referred to the Sarika Tyagi case, in which the Supreme Court had backed the setting up of a Young Lawyers' Professional Assistance Fund. He said that such support should be seen as a structural necessity for the profession's future and not charity.

He also told students that concerns over skyrocketing tuition fees and inadequate scholarships would be addressed.

CNLU Vice-Chancellor Prof Faizan Mustafa proposed shortening the five-year law degree to four years, with the final year as a mandatory court apprenticeship to eliminate the separate one-year practice requirement for judicial service exams. The CJI called it "a new, welcome idea."

When asked why dissenting opinions within the Collegium are recorded but not made public, the CJI said that full disclosure could place individual judges in an untenable position and added that transparency has limits where personal dignity is concerned.

Patna High Court Chief Justice V Kameswar Rao, who attended in his capacity as CNLU Chancellor, said that judicial clerkships at High Courts need to be made more competitive and better paid to compete with corporate law options.