Speeches

Mr. President, Mr. Vice-President, Attorney General and Friends

You have just heard the President wind up his very instructive and helpful address by saying that he had no right to address you. Well, if he is doubtful about his right I do not quite know where I come in.

I have come here today at your kind invitation because I do think that if we have the kind of a system of justice that we have, we must have not only a very high class judiciary but also a high class bar. It is obvious that the two are inter-related and every effort should be made to raise the standard of the bar in India and thereby secure the foundation of the system more firmly.

There is hardly anything in India which is not criticized. It is not a bad thing to criticize and to aim at higher levels. We know that our educational system is frequently criticized and, again, rightly so, I suppose, in many ways. That, of course, does not mean that the educational system is throughout very bad but that it requires improvement, a change fitting in present conditions. Moreover, our system of securing justice is often criticized chiefly, I suppose, because of its expensiveness and the delays involved. I think those are the two main criticisms, that it takes a long time to get justice and it is very expensive. That is a very important matter for lawyers and judges to consider, and indeed, I believe, it is being considered. We know that it is not an easy matter to be dealt with, but nevertheless it has to be dealt with or else the arrears in our courts would become so much that the chances of any newcomer complainant settling anything out of it will get remote. That would be very unfortunate, and I have no doubt that the Judges and the lawyers will find a way out of this because the real problem is how to deal with this question and thereby bring justice -- not only justice but timely justice -- to everyone who wants it.

Then, of course, there are a number of other problems which confront every dynamic society. Now, the whole texture of life in India is changing, and will no doubt keep changing. Apart from other reasons, independence, forces of emotion, or even apart from that, the growth of modern industry brings entirely new problems. The problems of the old feudal age gave place to new set of conditions and new types of conflicts arose in various sections of the society which have to be determined by the courts of law. Now, we are changing; I mean the whole structure of the society in India will no doubt change. Again, the mere fact of the infection spreading at a fast pace, whether it is education or anything else is bad. But education ultimately is the biggest revolutionary factor in changing a society.

All that is happening and all that has to be viewed by judges and lawyers as by legislators in its proper perspective. They cannot merely look at it with any change or dislike, although change is necessary. At the same time, obviously, the mere fact of any change does not mean that the change is for good. That change may be for good or for bad. So, all these new problems come and these problems can be decided certainly, as far as lawyers are concerned, by specialised training and also by a certain amount of wisdom and a certain understanding of those problems, apart from their judicial significance, because life is an integrated thing. You cannot separate it in compartments, some part of life is meant only for lawyers and judges and some other part is meant for somebody else. That is not so. In real life, they all overlap and in a changing phase of society it becomes so necessary, to have some integrated understanding of those various developments so as to be able to deal with it, and therefore it is important that in this particularly important section of our society, which deals with the administration of justice, lawyers should do everything in their power to help themselves by becoming more unified, more efficient and more understanding of the world’s forces. You know that while Parliaments and the like make laws, an enormous burden, or at any rate a great deal of burden, rests on the judiciary in interpreting those laws and thereby giving a new direction to them. Great judges in other countries have built up a system by interpretation, a very far-reaching system of social ethics and of social advancement. It is not merely a question of -if I may use the word respectfully -- blindly following the letter, but also following the spirit which is always necessary, and those functions come to the judicial fraternity as they come to the legislators. I wish success to this new all-India organisation.

Mr. President, Mr. Vice-President, Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. Attorney General and friends, I am happy to be associated with this function of the inauguration of the All-India Bar Association. The learned Attorney-General has traced the history of the movement for the unification of the Bar in India. Our President and our Prime Minister have rightly emphasised the importance of the legal profession which is the source from which, we have our judges. We are all assembled here either as practising lawyers or sitting judges or ex-judges or even ex-lawyers if they choose to retire.

Friends, this is a red letter day in the history of the legal profession of India, when we are for the first time laying the foundations of an all-India Bar which, let us hope, will develop on the right lines laying down healthy traditions and sound conventions for the legal profession to follow. During the last few months that I have been functioning as Chief Justice of India and during my peregrinations amongst different High Courts of India, I have found that all is not well with the profession. Therefore, this all-India body starts under very good auspices but with the onerous task of setting the profession on its feet on the right lines. It goes without saying that the sovereign democratic republic that we have set up under our Constitution, cannot function efficiently or even at all, unless we have the right kind of lawyers and judges; I mean, judges who are fearless, independent and impartial and who would administer justice in fear of God and without fear of man however, high he might be. Such a judiciary with such high ideals can be had only if we have an equally strong, efficient and a fearless Bar. Therefore, it is the duty of each one of us present here as also those upon whom will devolve the task of laying down the traditions of a healthy Bar to see that we develop on the right lens. At present, I find that those members of the Bar who have been fortunate enough to reach high positions, which means, having been earning a lot of money, refuse to come up to the Bench. The result is that we are left with those who have the responsibility of choosing the judges to select not from the best available but from the second best available. That is because, I suppose, we have not yet developed the right traditions amongst the members of the Bar. I am telling them openly because it is right that we should know our shortcomings and try to remedy them. Again, perhaps this is the first time that we shall have lawyers, all of the same grade, because the new law which is on the anvil of Parliament, envisages an all-India Bar of advocates, who may be either senior advocates or only advocates, but we shall have abolished the past generations of lawyers divided into different categories like mukhtiars, revenue agents, pleaders without any law degrees and those with degrees but still called vakils or advocates of different grades. We shall have in the new set-up a single profession of advocates who, I hope, will be guided by the high traditions and the sound conventions laid down or to be laid down by the all-India Association which has recently been founded and which is being inaugurated now by the Head of the State. The fact that our President and our Vice-President as Heads of the State and our Prima Minister as the leader of the Government are present here is guarantee of the fact that the Government are alive to the situation of that we require a very healthy and a sound legal profession. That is the reason why I said we are starting under very good auspices. However, we are also starting with things of the past which have not always been thought to be desirable. In the new set-up it is therefore necessary that we should have this all-India Association of lawyers to guide the legal profession on the right lines.

Friends, it is first necessary for the Universities in their Faculties of law to lay the sound foundations of a legal education, which should be the background of the training of lawyers when they join the profession as legal practitioners. We know that the teaching of law in different Universities, is neither of the same level nor of the highest. It should, therefore, be necessary for those of us who are associated with Universities, especially in the Faculties of Law to see that legal education of the right type is given taking into account the new factors which have come into existence on account of our new Constitution. In the old curriculum of the Universities land laws and laws of contract had much greater prominence than commercial laws or constitutional law or even international law. These new branches of law did not have that kind of treatment from the Universities while imparting legal education as they require now to be done. Similarly, after the lawyers have taken their law degrees and joined the profession, it is the bounded duty of the Bar Councils to take charge of the lawyers within their respective jurisdictions and to give them the right kind of start in the profession. I doubt very much whether the Bar Councils have functioned at all on those lines. I know that the Bar Council of Madras has been doing a lot to teach the members of the legal profession right professional ethics. That is a subject which is not taught in the law colleges. That again is essential to be learnt by those who join the active profession of legal practice. It is for the Bar Councils therefore to step in and take in hand the training of lawyers, particularly from that point of view. After these two bodies have done their part, I think the Bar Associations come in to take their share of the responsibility for proper upbringing of the legal profession. You cannot have a strong Bar unless the Bar Associations take a due hand in seeing that the profession runs on the right lines. Here again, I find that the Associations have not been doing their duties properly because perhaps the leaders of the Bar are much too busy otherwise and the juniors are left to shift for themselves. That again, I suppose is not a good trend.

Friends, I do not know if any correct census has been taken of the legal profession but my impression is that the largest number of lawyers in the world are concentrated in the United States of America but the second largest perhaps are those in this country. No other country, I suppose, except the United States of America can boast of such numerically large number of legal practitioners. That shows how important we are as a profession. In the legal profession I count not only the legal practitioners but also the judges who are drawn from that class. It is therefore, highly essential that the all-India Bar Association which has been ushered into existence should take up its responsibility and direct its activities to setting its house in order, so that it could serve the country to its best advantage. It is in that hope that we are all gathered here this forenoon to bring into existence this All-India Bar Association and let us hope that we have discharged our function to the best of our ability.

Let me say only one thing more, and that is the responsibility of the legal profession – the practising lawyers – in the matter of disposal of the large accumulated number of un-disposed cases. The Government have been doing its part by appointing larger number of judges but I suppose that cannot be the solution of the problem of accumulated arrears. The legal practitioners have to play their part in the matter of quick disposal of cases. My experience at the Bar as also on the Bench has been that the preparation of the lawyer at home bears inverse ratio to the length of the argument in court. If you are well prepared with your brief at home you take much less time in court and vice versa. I would therefore appeal to the legal profession which is well represented here to impress upon it the desirability of getting fully ready at home to present the brief in court so that less and less time of the court is consumed in the disposal of cases. That is how I say that the legal profession has its responsibility in the matter of disposing of large accumulation of cases. In some High Courts I know there are cases as old as ten to twelve years. That is a very sad state of affairs and none of us who are interested in the good name of the judiciary and of the legal profession can see with equanimity the present state of affairs. I would once again appeal to all the members of legal profession i.e., legal practitioners to see that cases are disposed of as quickly as possible. Well, I do not absolve ourselves - the judges – from that responsibility. We are the servants of the people and our services are at the disposal of the people but we cannot function at our best without having the best assistance from the Bar and in that way it is the judges and the lawyers both together who can make their due contribution to the solution of this vast problem of accumulated arrears of cases.

One word more - let us all join in the hope that this All-India Association which has been brought into existence will lead the legal profession on the right direction and I have no doubt personally that with a person of the eminence of our present Attorney General it shall succeed. I would only appeal to the learned Attorney-General that he has obtained a status in the profession as the leader of the whole Bar in India and he can give the right lead and I think he should devote a larger portion of his time to seeing that this is done.

On behalf of the Bar Association of India, I welcome the President of India and other distinguished guest at the inauguration of the Association.

It is in the fitness of things that you Mr. President should initiate the functioning of this nation – wide body of lawyers which has recently come into existence. Having been a notable and distinguished figure at the Bar and having presided at the fashioning of our organic law, the Constitution, it is but appropriate that this organisation of lawyers which we hope to make a national institution should be called into activity at your hands.

The establishment of a countrywide organisation of lawyers was attempted without appreciable success for many yours – Early last year, the Indian Law Institute of which, the Chief Justice of India is the President, sent out a Questionnaire in regard to the desirability of forming an association of the entire Bar of India and the steps that may be taken for the purpose of forming such a body. The replies to the questionnaire revealed a widespread desire for the formation of such a body and the matter was considered at an All-India Law Conference, which was held under the auspices of the Indian Law Institute in these premises in the month of March last year. That conference resolved upon the foundation of the Bar Association of India and took preliminary steps to found and organise the Association. Pursuant to these resolutions, a draft of the constitution of the Association was prepared and circulated to the members of the Bar all over the Country for their advise and suggestions. These suggestions were considered at a meeting of the Organising Committee of the Association which based and adopted the constitution of the Association in the light of the suggestions received by it. The Association was thereafter registered under the Societies Registration Act on the 25th of September, 1959.

The objects of the Association are broad – based and aim not only at the furtherance of the interest of the profession but set before it the task of public and national welfare in many directions. We aim at upholding the Constitution of India, the representative, free and democratic form of Government established by it and the promotion of the Rule of law. We are to endeavour to apply our knowledge and experience in the field of law to the promotion of the public good. We have pledged ourselves, to promote improvement of legal education and to undertake instruction in law and allied subjects. We are also to take measures for the provision of free Legal aid to the poor and the establishment and maintenance of a system of prompt and efficient legal advice for persons irrespective of their capacity to pay, I have mentioned but a few of our objects, which will tend to the public use. In addition we shall also function in our own characteristic fields, such as, the promotion of the science of jurisprudence, the encouragement and conduct of research in legal and allied fields, the reforms of administration of justice and law and the promotion of the uniformity of legislation and judicial decision.

Those who considered the question of the organisation of the Association thought that this was an opportune moment for its formation. Soon after independence, a wide-spread and insistent demand was raised by the members of the bar in various parts of the country, that the bar in India should be unified. That demand was considered by the Indian Bar Committee presided over by Justice S. R. Das. , later the Chief Justice of India, and the Committee unanimously recommended that the Bar in India should be organised on a countrywide basis with a common roll of Advocates. That recommendation was inevitable in the context of the system of administration of justice which had been evolved by us.

Excepting some local legislation our statute law and our unmodified law, which has been called the Indian common law rest on a countrywide basis. We have under the Constitution an integrated judicial system which administers alike the State as well as the Union law and which has at its apex the Supreme Court of India. It was obvious that, such a countrywide uniform and integrated system of administration of justice necessarily calls for an integrated and unified Bar to assist in its administration, After a considerable lapse of time, the demand of the Bar for unification prevailed and as we all know a Bill is pending before parliament, the main purpose of which is to create a common Bar for the whole country with state – wise Bar Councils and an All-India Bar Council at the head. Not only is the Bar thus on the eve of being statutorily unified but the purpose of the pending legislation is to make at almost wholly autonomous and the master of its own house. It was in this setting that the question of the formation of a country wide organisation of the bar fell to be considered. It was felt that simultaneously with the birth of a unified Bar in India under the statute there should also come into existence a nation-wide organisation of the lawyers for themselves the achievement of purposes which would naturally be beyond the limited scope of the functions of the Bar Councils to be constituted under the proposed legislation. The Bar Association of India will in many matters supplement and aid the activities of the statutory Bar Councils and work in many wide fields which must remain outside the scope of the statutory bodies.

When we launch ourselves upon new ventures we often pride ourselves on our ancient ideals and achievements. But it is, I think useful on occasions to set before us the recent record of other nations as an example, which we may follow with advantage to ourselves.

I shall, therefore, call attention to the growth and development of the American Bar Association, born in the summer of 1778 at a gathering of about seventy-five men summoned to a meeting by about a dozen lawyers from eleven states, that body has grown from strength to strength so that today it has over one hundred thousand members embracing more than a third of the members of the Bar in the United States. Notwithstanding its large membership, it is felt that “it still does not touch and may not perhaps always speak for the whole profession”. Attempts are, therefore, being made to still further widen its membership so that it may like the National Medical Association of the United States have on its rolls as many as two thirds of the active practitioners. Apart from its large membership its activities have been wide and manifold. It functions in about thirty standing committees dealing with various subjects of permanent interest, such as, American Citizenship, Bill of Rights, judicial selection, jurisprudence and law reform, legal aid work, peace and law through the United Nations, professional ethics and grievances, and unemployment and social security. It has also formed about seventy-five special committee dealing with non-recurring matters arising from time to time. It has tried to set standards for the profession and the judiciary by formulating canons of professional ethics, on oath of admission to the Bar and also the canons of judicial ethics.

In 1900, the American Bar Association founded the Association of American Law Schools which has, it is said, "for half a century been the centre for discussion and action on the academic development of Law". This organ founded by the American Bar Association has been described as "perhaps the most successful and influential organ among those concerned with any sort of professional training in the universities".

An early outcome of the activities of the Association was the birth of what is called, the Rational Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. Statutes drafted by this Conference have from year to year been submitted for approval to the annual meetings of the Association. It is difficult to over-estimate the great work achieved by this conference – More than sixty statutes have been devised by it. It has also framed numerous model Act for adoption by the various States and some of the statutes framed by the Conference have been enacted in a large number of States. The Association has thus rendered notable public service through the activities of this Conference.

Can we not in our country aspire to emulate this notable catalogue of outstanding work spread over three-quartors of a century of which any public body may well be proud? If the members of the profession in India bend themselves into a group pledged to effort and service there is no reason why the Bar Association of India should not in course of time make a contribution to national service as outstanding as that of our sister organisation in the United States. The profession in India embraces over 60,000 members. If it set before itself the ideal of service not only to the administration of law and justice but of service to the nation and produced workers devoted to such service it can play an honoured role in the march of the nation to its appointed goal.

We have our own characteristic problems to the solution of which a body like the one which we have formed can lend a helping hand. We are a new-born democracy striving to maintain the noble objects enshrined in our Constitution at a time when totalitarian Governments threatening the very roots of law and the Rule of Law are increasingly in the vogue. Our governmental regimes have been functioning under the domination of parties with huge majorities and without the salutary control of effective oppositions. There are trends in our body politic which seem to make way for authoritarianism and draw us towards the rule of a few. Important decision effecting public interests are taken not by governmental agencies but by the parties in power, whose dictates seem in turn to be followed by the Governments. There is an unmistakable tendency to belittle the functions of the judicial process and indeed to interfere with its operation. A way of students and citizen indiscipline is threatening to affect some of our vital functions. Corruption is said to stalk at large and we all know how corruption had in many places led inevitably to the rise to power of autocratic forces. It should be the paramount duty of a body composed of men pledged to the smooth and impartial administration of justice and the orderly development of a true democracy to earnestly ponder over these and like situations and take active and energetic measures to counter them in so far as such action may lie within its power.

Equally important problems will face the newly-formed body in the matter of adjusting the profession of the law to the rapidly changing conditions of our social and economic fabric. Few in the profession have appreciated the silent and peaceful revolution which has overcome us. The men of the law cannot afford to stand aside when the country is forging ahead along its newly chosen path. We have to adapt ourselves to these new conditions, disown the notion that we are a mere profession and realise that we can regain the influence which we one exercised in public affairs, only if we become the leaders of the people in the changed condition so as to guide them to the now destination which they have set themselves to reach.

Said a distinguished Chief Justice “In a free society every lawyer has a responsibility, that of acting as an intelligent unselfish leader of public opinion – Within his own particular sphere of influence”. A united Indian Bar fully organised and striving with all its effort after true ideals can, I am sure, be a powerful force for welding the country together combating all sectional, regional and communal trends and taking it forward on its march to Indian nationhood and progress.

Mr. President, Mr. Vice-President, Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. Chief Justice and friends, I have great pleasure in moving a hearty vote of thanks to the distinguished guests who have been here this morning; particularly I want to express our indebtedness to the President for encouraging this Association and the Prime Minister for having said words of encouragement to the new-born Association. Both the President and the Prime Minister, if I may be permitted to claim, are members of the profession. They belong to that brilliant galaxy of lawyers who, generation after generation, with the beginning of W.C. Banerjee, have fought for freedom and won it. They also have been two of the principal architects of our Constitution and therefore, I have no doubt, that the encouragement that they have given us will be a great asset to this new Association which is being inaugurated today. The learned Chief Justice has also been good enough to give us sound words of advice. Though he is a judge, he is one of us. High interest is not merely confined to judiciary but as the President of the Law Institute, to the other wings of the profession as well as to teaching and we have no doubt in our minds that his constant care for us will help the institution in a very long way. The Attorney-General has in his inimitable way mentioned the aims and objects and the purpose for which this Association is founded and I can only express the hope of those who have conceived and sponsored this Association, that the immediate purpose which we have in view can only be fulfilled if we devote ourselves to the three aims of the profession; the first, as the learned Chief Justice has referred, is to maintain the high tradition of the profession for if we were to fail to maintain those traditions it will sink into a parasitical profession which the public will not tolerate. Therefore it is necessary that the Association should fulfil one of its first aims, namely, to raise the standard of the profession. It is high time – whatever the reason, I do not want to go into it – that we do this in the first instance.

The second point which has already been referred to by the learned Attorney-General, is the question of legal aid. In a country, where so many laws are being passed every day, it is necessary that the poor and the helpless should be assisted by the members of the Bar, irrespective of whether they can finance them or not. A spirit of vindication of justice must characterise us if we are able to justify our role as upholders of the rule of law but that presupposes another factor, namely, that constant efforts should be made by every member of the Bar to provide legal aid. In many countries the Government gives large-scale aid and channels it through the Bar Association in order that deserving cases might get the necessary support. I have no doubt in my mind that our Government, if properly moved, would be able to do so. That would perhaps give to the Association a greater scope for helping the needy and the poor than anything else.

The last thing, which has already been referred to is this - if we in a free society have to function in a democratic way then there must be an independent judiciary as much as an independent Bar. One cannot exist without the other. A self-regulatory Association like this one is absolutely essential to maintain the freedom, which the Constitution has granted to us and if the lawyers associated with this body fulfil this mission we would have justified the hopes that we have entertained and perhaps earned the blessings legitimately, which the President has been good enough to give us.

With these words, I propose a hearty vote of thanks to our distinguished guests which I hope you will pass with acclamation.