Chief Justice of India Surya Kant on Saturday said that "law cannot remain a fortress erected to protect society from arbitrariness", and called on the young lawyers to make it a "forum" where differences are debated, rights articulated and power is reasoned with. Kant, during his address -- "From Fortress to Forum: Law in an Unfinished Republic" -- at the 18th Convocation of National Law University here, urged the professionals to see law not as a closed citadel but as a living, evolving public space. The CJI invoked the Mehrangarh Fort as a powerful metaphor for the historical journey of law. "A fortress is built to defend, to guard against disorder and uncertainty. In its earliest conception, law resembled such a structure, erected to protect society from arbitrariness and chaos," he said. "But in a constitutional democracy, he said, law cannot remain a fortress alone. It must transform into a forum where differences are debated, rights articulated and power reasoned with," he .