N.K.Assumi (Advocate) 10 December 2009

Detorerioration of Legal Moral Standard

I often hear the detereioration of moral standard in the profession due to over crowding at the Bar. some people even goes to the extend of comparing this noble profession as fish market. Do you agree?

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10 Replies

Daksh (Student) 10 December 2009

Dear Mr.N.K.Assumi,

First of all thanks a tonne for initiating such a discussion for the forum members. In my humble view the Bar is also the reflection of the society at large. If the number is growing then it signifies the importance attached to this noble profession and secondly the imbalance between demand and supply. Last but not least the issue of managing the affairs of the Bar is also importance the mis management or neglect of management does leads to chaos and as such I do endorse your probable denotion of fish market. More than that it is upto the Bar Council to take a stand in the right direction.

Best Regards

Daksh

Govind MNM (Legal Advisor) 10 December 2009

It is unfortunately true in case of Indian legal field. First of all,not many take up the mode of practice due to latest job opportunities and a high chances of good income. As a result, those who are practicing have a kind of monopoly over the field for years together. Many of so called senior advocates do not even know the procedure and they do not feel the need to know the same. Legal fraternity is being eaten away by the termite of corruption and nobody's eyebrows are raised over this.Its like people have accepted corruption as a part of their lives. All the schemes and Acts are on the paper only. In my opnion, the legal students must be given a practical knowledge of courts and pocedures right from the first year rather than wasting time is theories and lectures which are totally inapplicable in real practice.

Rajan Salvi (Lawyer) 10 December 2009

Law exams can be cleared without attending the lecturers by home study. Instead of wasting the time , the students should go and sit in courts and just listen to what goes on. If they are working as a clerk for an advocate, while pursuing thier education , they will be better equipped with the procedure when eventually they start practising.

N.K.Assumi (Advocate) 10 December 2009

Yes, the need of the hour is quality legal education. If the present trends goes on there will be a day when this institutions will crumbled to ashes.

Anil Agrawal (Retired) 10 December 2009

There is no deterioration.

Legalize prostitution if you can't curb it: SC to govt

Gundlapallis (Advocate) 11 December 2009

Unforturnately, attaining a legal degree in India is easiest compared to other professions (examination standards wise) and the cheapest. This is the basic reason we find inflow of lots of unscrupulous characters in this profession. Its hightime Bar councils get into action to protect the dignity and nobility of this profession.

Anil Agrawal (Retired) 11 December 2009

Somebody had the courage to raise this topic. Thanks to Mr. Assumi.

Anil Agrawal (Retired) 11 December 2009

In this forum, some gentlemen have shown enormous faith in the judicial system and have gone to the extent of being prepared to change it.

Can I quote?

Labourer languishes in jail for 9 yrs for petty crime

LUCKNOW: Whether it is an irony of criminal procedure, lack of lawyer's accountability or insensitivity of the trial judge, no one can tell, but it is pathetic that a labourer from Bihar had to languish in jail for possessing twenty tablets, generally taken by insomnia patients, for about nine years. The high court has now found his crime to be punishable with only one year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000. The suffering of Pawan Kumar Sharma, the labourer, has yet not come to an end as despite the delivery of judgment 24 days back, he is still in jail for want of compliance of the order.

Justice Alok Kumar Singh of the high court expressed his concern over the matter and regretted that Pawan had to remain in jail for about 9 years, though the maximum punishment, which could be awarded to him was one year.

Pawan hails from Bihar. He has a wife, old mother and two little children. In search of bread and butter he came to Kanpur and started work as a labourer. On January 6, 2001, he boarded a train from Kanpur for Bihar. When the train reached Barabanki, Government Railway Police (GRP) intervened, casting doubt on him and searched him. According to Pawan, he had only clothes for his children. But maliciously, GRP booked him under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act for possessing 20 tablets of Ativan, weighing less than one gram.

A Barabanki sessions court convicted him within about 7 months and sentenced him to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment and Rs 10 lakh fine on August 31, 2001. Pawan sent his appeal to the high court. The final hearing of the appeal could be possible after 8 years when his lawyer, Anil Kumar Pandey, argued before the court that according to rules, the maximum penalty which could be imposed in the case was one year, but the appellant had been already in jail for about nine years since January 6, 2001.

Justice Singh observed, "concededly, the quantity in question is even below one gram. Apparently, it appears that this point could not strike either to the counsel for defense, public prosecutor or the trial court." Justice Singh modified the sentence awarded by the trial court to be one year rigorous imprisonment and Rs 5,000 fine. If Pawan could not pay fine he would have to undergo additional imprisonment of three weeks. The court directed the registrar to send back the judgment and lower court record to the trial court for necessary compliance. The judgment was delivered on November 16, but its compliance is still awaited. Pawan has already lost the valuable nine years of his life and is yet not a free man.

(Guest)

No. I don't agree. Like Doctors in the hospitals, a case should be assigned to each and every practicing advocate in the court under supervision of Junior judges of the court. In return every month practising advocate have to get some remunaration.

How a junior advocate have to survive? If junior gets some remunaration for his/her hard work there can not be any chance for detorerioration of legal moral standard.

Bhartiya No. 1 (Nationalist) 12 December 2009

It is true that Law is a Nobel profession. To keep it up there must be a provision of scholarship and reward system for the lawyers/advocates who have and willing to make significant contribution to this field. So, the honest and meritorious lawyers can be benefitted. In some backward areas (at subdivision/district bar associations) even good library, which is most essential for them is not available. This profession is most neglected one. It is a hard reality that even peon of any lower court earns more than the several lawyers, which is having a negative impact. Education, health and legal fields need a lot of dedication and hard mental work. These areas should never be commercialized. Govt. as well as private/MNCs Big business houses must come forward to support this cause, as they happens to be most benefitted lot .