Chief Justice Surya Kant Launches Victim Rights Centre in Patna

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant visited Patna on September 26, 2026, to launch several legal aid initiatives, including the inauguration of India's first Victim Rights Centre at the Bihar State Legal Services Authority premises. The centre operates as a one-year pilot project providing a single-window mechanism for legal assistance, psychological support, and counselling for crime victims. During the visit, he also launched a transgender helpline and deployed nine multi-utility vehicles to expand legal awareness in remote villages.

In a separate interaction with students at Chanakya National Law University, Surya Kant asserted that the judiciary will not "look the other way" when confronted with police repression of peaceful protests. He specifically addressed the police response to Jantar Mantar demonstrations led by the Cockroach Janata Party against NEET exam paper leaks. While a bench led by Surya Kant had quashed FIRs against most protesters on September 1 following the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the order excluded 2,873 individuals with criminal backgrounds.

During the university session, the Chief Justice defended the confidentiality of the judicial collegium's dissenting opinions to protect personal dignity. He also expressed support for a proposal by Vice Chancellor Faizan Mustafa to restructure the five-year law degree into four years of academic study and one year of mandatory court apprenticeship.