‘Either preserve the institutions that we envisioned to build or allow them to be undermined’: Anand Grover

Text of the speech at Symbiosis Law School where Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court discussed what it takes to make a good lawyer. 

On the do's and don'ts of good lawyering, much has been written. This is especially true for India, where there is the example of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, who famously said, "I realized the true function of a lawyer was to unite parties riven asunder." He justified this by saying, "I lost nothing thereby- not even money, certainly not my soul". He used his position as a lawyer in South Africa to launch and experiment with the practice of non-violence as a means of resistance on a number of issues apart from apartheid, even protesting against the proposed ban by law against marriages between Hindus and Muslims.

Very few of us will be able to emulate the late Mahatma, but lessons learnt from him are easy to understand. As a lawyer one must not only be grounded in ethics but must also fight against injustice, wherever one finds it. For according to the Mahatma the soul has to be kept intact and not lost.

Most of us are familiar with the ethical rules of the Bar Council of India, which require us in our duties to the Court to respect the Court; act in a dignified manner; not to communicate in private to a judge; refuse to act in an illegal manner towards the opposition; refuse to represent clients who insist on unfair means; refuse to appear in front of relations; not to represent establishments of which one is a member; not to appear in matters where the lawyer has pecuniary interest. Similarly, the duties towards clients are similarly set out and one must particularly note the following- full and frank disclosure to the client of the lawyers interest with connections with the party; upholding the clients interest fearlessly; not to suppress material evidence; not to disclose communications between the client and himself; not to initiate litigation; not to negotiate directly with the opposing party etc.

Those who are practising lawyers are best to judge whether most members of the bar actually adhere to these ethics. As these are actionable issues by the BCI one would expect them to be adhered to. But I have been surprised to find that some of the leading members fail to adhere to them and there is nobody to take them to account. Indeed, the level of ethics at the bar has fallen. That is the case with most of our institutions. It is a matter of concern that this is the case also with justice delivery system. That is why this topic today is of critical importance. For historically we are at a juncture today where we can either preserve the institutions that we envisioned to build or allow them to be undermined with devastating consequences to our society.