CHAPTER – 5

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

5.1. CONCLUSION

One of the important issues in any legal system is the access to justice or the
incapability of deprived groups to have access to the legal system. It is also said that
justice will be available wherever and whenever it is required to be dispensed with.
However, presently, with a population of over three billion in India, even with the
notion of justice incorporated in the Constitution, the majority does not know what the
legal aid is, what a court is, what justice means and how it is administered. The
international community is very much concerned to deal with the hurdles in the way
of justice because those who are denied justice may resort to revolt and violence or
helplessly face eradication. The main concern of the nations should be to remove the
internal obstacles in the way to have access to the justice which lie under the cover of
power in the hidden form of lack of understanding of the law, inability to deal with
cases, biasness, amenability to political and other influences, corruption and
insensitivity to human sufferings. The other barrier hindering access to justice in the
areas of human relationship and peaceful co-existence which disturb the system of a
multicultural society are flaws in the legal system, racial and religious intolerance,
extreme poverty, mob violence, police brutalities, propaganda of hatred. The
negligence in removing hurdles to access to justice is full of grave dangers that may
perpetuate frictions and distress thwarting all the progress and may promote some
activities giving rise to criminal acts. The solutions are there waiting for the will of
the State functionaries to bring harmony, prosperity and peace. People must not only
be aware of their rights and remedies; they must believe that the implementation of
such rights is possible and that they will get sufficient remedies.

It is clear that the persons belonging to learned professions are under

obligation to perform reasonable degree of care and skill in performance of these
professional activities. Advocates are well known personalities belonging to learned
professions. It is basic rule that to protect the interest of clients and to restore the trust
and faith of general public in legal system the judicial interpretation of the term
“service” and “deficiency of service” with respect to the legal services taking into

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consideration the intention of legislature and purpose of the Act is the need of society
in present time.

Society keeps on changing from time to time. It is always dynamic and never
stable. Times have changed speedily in the last few years. There has been
considerable step forward in the economic conditions. There have been great scientific
and technological improvements. There have been huge changes in the different
spheres of life from what it was decades ago. With these changes and improvements,
the opportunities for advocates are greater today. No doubt, the type of litigation may
have changed. It may be that we are not getting traditional sort of cases that our
ancestors in the profession used to get previously. There has been an increasing
demand on the talents of the legal profession from different branches of law. New
methods are open now which were not common earlier. It is a true that man's search
for justice is as old as man himself. In this search he has been aided and served by the
profession of law. Legal profession is truly devoted to the cause of justice. In the court
of justice vakils, barristers, advocates, attorneys, counsels, pleaders, etc. have always
acted as the high priests. Therefore, the profession of law, by the common consent of
the generations of men since time immemorial, has been praised as an honourable
profession throughout the world. This honour is connected to this profession because
of the role it plays in the life of a society. Truly, no other profession touches human
life at so many points. People place their lives, their property, their honour, their
everything in the control of the professional man as they do in the case of legal
profession. By protecting people's rights and interests against injustices done by other
people or authorities in the State, advocates contribute notably in the maintenance and
preservation of a law and order in the society. There is no doubt that legal profession
is a career of service to the community. Lots of people are involved in this service to
society in our country. In this context for resorting the integrity of the legal
profession, it is important for the advocates to make collective efforts for improving
the dispensation of legal services. The crisis of public confidence faced by the legal
profession today needs to be cured otherwise it may become difficult or even
impossible to be tackled tomorrow. At present, the society is moving very fast. Law,
advocates and judiciary are not in position to keep pace with fast moving society. The
legal profession has to be conscious to the emerging social and economic trends
which regulate and manage affairs of the society. It has to be

262
alive to the challenges posed by liberalization and globalization. Globalization has
also influenced our National Legal System. The legal profession, if it is a responsible
profession, has to adapt and synchronize itself to the new expectations of the public
interest in the society. It has to act as a tool of social change, as an incitement of
changing the public opinion. The legal profession has to order this conduct to give
effect to the desire of the people according to the new goals, new commitments of our
constitutional scheme. Presently, the need of the time is that the advocates have to act
as negotiators, arbitrators, reconcilers between the varying interests of the clients,
groups and the society. It has to be understood that law is not a steady phenomenon. It
is an evolving and dynamic institution which must take proper notice of and
accommodate conflicting and competing interests of individual, public and society.
The role of an advocate, in the arena of social responsibilities, has to be that of a
protector of the larger interests of the society. He must be capable to recognize the
new social, economic, political and legal problem of the society and propose their
solutions much before the critical stage arrives and create a situation for adopting the
legal system to the needed changes and reforms. The path of social responsibilities is
not a bed of roses. It is a hazardous path. It is a path of service, sacrifice, dedication
and devotion. It is a footway where duties are performed selflessly and not with an
eye on the returns or the rewards. The greatest reward is the satisfaction that one has
done his duty and one is regarded so in the eyes of others. For the legal profession as
whole there is no substitute to this path. The legal profession cannot afford to ignore
this path. As a matter of fact, legal profession could never avoid this path.

The need for improvement in legal education became a major duty during the
post-colonial era. These duties and concerns were logical, in the sense that the quality
of legal education is bound to influence the quality of judicial process and
administration of justice in a democratic country like India. Speedy growth of society
in terms of a globalized and free market, create serious threats to the established and
traditional social norms and to the system of access to justice. Therefore, legal
education needs to focus on improving and enhancing the competence of advocacy
and also the need of providing legal aid to the needy people. The condition of legal
education in pre-colonial and colonial period has neither been professional nor
uniform. Thus, in the post-colonial era the challenge has not only been to bring
uniformity in legal education throughout the country, but also to make it professional.

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The few Colleges in the country which were providing legal knowledge, were mostly
in the cities only and most of them operated part-time. Besides, because of liberal
admission to legal practice, the new entrants lacked academic excellence and
professional skills. It was in 1961 that the legal education was brought under the
1
control of the Bar Council of India by the Advocates Act, 1961. The fundamental
task of the BCI is to bring uniformity in legal education in the country. BCI, has
repeatedly enacted several rules providing minimum norms to set up and run the Law
Colleges. These attempts caused huge growth of Law Colleges throughout the
country. Thus, legal education became more assessable and affordable. However, due
to the lack of foresight regarding legal education, resulted in inadequate institutions,
and resulting in uncontrolled expansion of legal education and compromising the
quality of new legal professionals entering the profession. The culture of the legal
education, the intuition, instinct and impulse of being an advocate, we should say a
true advocate, will compel one's conscience, morality to stand up and take-up the task
of social responsibilities besides normal routine avocation. Those of our advocates
colleagues who have never felt the need of serving the society, from which they draw
their sustenance, in overcoming the serious problems in the field of law and social
justice, the researcher is of opinion to call them not as true advocates. They are
advocates not in the professional sense, they are advocates only to the extent that
consider law only as business, trade or commerce and not a profession. They cannot
manage to take up the highly responsible job of acting as social engineers. The social
responsibilities chapter in the legal profession is out of syllabus for them. Reforming
legal education need changes not only in the physical infrastructure but also a
considerable amount of resources need to be used for development of human
resources, developing socially relevant curriculum and teaching culture, method of
recruitment and management of Colleges. Developing substantial knowledge needs
creating new teaching methods in addition to present lecture method and case study
method. They may include teaching substantive law subject with practical activities,
using projects, research papers, internships, field visits, role plays and simulation
exercises. Prof. Menon in his book has rightly point out that, "The law curriculum
does not adequately reflect the changing role of law in a developing society, and law
teaching does not take account of the new skills of social engineering required from

1 Act No. 25 of 1961.

264
 2
the future advocates."
Social responsibilities do not form the course-content of law studies for such
of our advocate colleagues. One should not give up the hope that the legal profession
is able of responding to the call of social responsibilities. What is lacking is the
intensity and emphasis of creating consciousness among them to rise and awake to the
call of the times. It is true that complete burden cannot be put on the legal profession.
It is true that the call towards social responsibilities has got to be increased and
backed by the government. Where funds are required, the government should come
forward with liberal schemes, as they have a still greater interest in the betterment of
the system of administration of justice and the delivery of legal services to the people
as they are more in need of winning the trust and confidence of the people as that is
the life blood of any party in power in the democratic system. But still the fact
remains that, until and unless the legal profession rises and awakes and takes the
leadership to the field of social responsibilities with new schemes, no action on the
part of the State alone can bring the desired results. It has to be cooperative process,
with the active role of the legal profession and the needy supportive action by the
government. There is no doubt that the legal profession is going through the crises not
only in India but also in most of the other countries which share the Anglo-American
legal traditions. The important question today is that whether the advocate is aware of
the crises and the challenges involved. There are evidences that a majority of them are
not aware. Since the early 1990's the globalization of everything has started and it
affected rapidly almost all the spheres of life directly or indirectly. No one can escape
from its influence. It affected our National Legal System also. Thus, the professional
in legal fields cannot avoid this change. Today, numerous laws control, affect and
influence our activities in life. Hence, legal profession has to be sensitive to the new
emerging social and economic trends which regulate and control the affairs of the
society. Thus, we in the legal profession has to be alert to these new challenges. The
members of the Bar were previously considered in India as natural leaders for the
community. But after independence it is difficult to claim that superiority in the social
hierarchy. This is a matter that must grab our attention and there is a need to consider
the causes of the same. The huge gap which is appearing between the leaders of the
Bar and the active public life constitute a dangerous indication for the health of the

2 Mohan Gopal, Prof. N.R. Madhava Menon's Reflections on Legal and Judicial Education 78
(Universal Law Publishing Co., Allahabad, 2009).

265
society. The legal profession is a profession of service to the community. The
important duty of the profession is to act as the guide, interpreter and faithful servant
of the community. Role of advocates in a developing society is connected with the
question of the contribution which law can make for the development and
improvement in the society. If the law is used as an instrument of social engineering,
it can introduce smoothness in the act of change, prevent disruption and remove
stagger in the onward walk of the society. At the same time, law incorporates change
with stability, sets up a harmony between the past and the present and communicate
such harmony into the future. The focus of law is on bringing the reforms and
preventing destruction. The relation between law and social change is reciprocal, for,
law in its turn, can have a moulding effect on the social progress. The researcher is of
the firm opinion that we are passing through an age of social changes and challenges.
No institution can take for granted the reverence of the society. The society demands
from every institution and justification of its existence, the proof of its usefulness. The
legal institutions, the courts and the profession, have now to earn reference through
the test of truth. It has, therefore, become essential that we do a bit of self-observation
and a scrutiny also. An analysis of history of development, growth and creation of the
legal profession in India has clearly shown that even though the legal system was
copied from the British legal system and was introduced in India with the sole
purpose of nourishing the administrative and political hold over this colony, the legal
profession, the subsequent period could not remain as a silent bystander to the
continuation and stretching of the foreign undemocratic rule in this country. When the
social interest demanded, the legal profession not only acted as a motivator for
assisting a change to home-rule but also provided wise, active and seasoned
leadership to the whole freedom movement. There is no doubt, that in doing so, the
legal profession came out of its strictly professional role to some extent, but whatever
it did had a clear relation with its professional goals if we take a broad horizon which
includes the social responsibilities also within the limits of the duties of the legal
professionals. To this dedication and great contribution by the legal profession the
people responded with equal warmth by holding the profession in nobility and honour,
high esteem, and free India had no reluctance in awarding the legal profession the
status of monopoly, independence and also self-management of their own conduct and
also trying to achieve a unification of the Bar. The image of the legal profession in the
face of new challenges in the post-independence era has not been that much

266
encouraging. Our new constitutional commitments, our new social, political and
economic goals to fight with inequalities, to remove poverty and to initiate in a social
order, informed by social justice, demanded innovative techniques and novel approach
on the part of the legal profession. But the idleness to stick to current situation came
in the way, and the fruits of the freedom achieved could not reach majority of our
masses who were in disadvantaged positions educationally, economically and
socially. This negatively influenced the trust and confidence of the people in the
whole system of administration of justice and the legal profession, being in the
important position in the system was bound to face injurious public analysis, its
prestige, honour and esteem turned down much in the eyes of the public. This was
because of poor response of advocate to their social responsibilities which they have
towards the society, the nation and the community. The performance of the
disciplinary machinery of self-regulation of the advocates conduct has also not been
satisfactory, as is observed in the study on the basis of the decided cases by the
disciplinary committees of the different Bar Councils of the States and the Bar
Council of India. There is no refusal from the truth that the society has an interest in a
disciplined profession which alone can function in a well organised society. A delicate
profession cannot be presumed to reply strongly to the social responsibilities. So, if
the disciplinary machinery of the Bar Council of India is unworthy of absolving the
legal profession from the unprofessional elements through strong enforcement of the
code, it would only exhaust the profession as a whole. The special privileges of
camera proceedings which are focused on protecting the advocates from public
censure appear to have been introduced for protecting them from adequate sanctions
as well. This seems to be because of to two reasons: Firstly, because the respective
Bar Councils, which are the disciplinary authorities are the elected bodies, the elected
judiciary has failed to perform the judicious functions, judiciously. Secondly, the Bar
Councils have to play a double role, i.e., it has the dual responsibilities of protecting
the rights and interests of the members of the Bar, as well as disciplining them, the
roles conflicting with each other. The result has been that the lines of separation have
been towards the first role i.e., sheltering the interests of the legal professionals. In
addition to these factors, the disciplinary bodies also do not have representation of the
interests of the consumers of justice and the complainants, hence their decisions also
lack complete considerations of law involved in such disciplinary proceedings.
Therefore, there, is much scope for development of the whole system of self-

267
regulation of the advocates conduct to equip the legal deliberations prior to that,
consensus of the advocates, notice for the strike, illegal and legal strike, regular
monitoring of the demands of the law professionals, all need to be reviewed. There is
need to develop the law on advocates' strike without any further delay. The advocates
strike has added to the dishonour to the advocates among the society as these strikes
have done great harm to the whole machinery of administration of justice, a fact
which is not rebutted even by the advocates themselves. It is also disclosed from the
aforementioned study that the advocates in India are placed not only on the basis of
their influence, skills, wealth and prestige, but also in terms of their caste/community,
family status, religion, rural urban background and affiliation to political groups. The
study also discloses that many factors such as social, economic, educational, personal,
familiar and recreational backgrounds of advocates in India. The study clearly tells
that advocates role in society has been misunderstood by the society as well as by the
Government. During the struggle for independence Mahatma Gandhi gave a call to
boycott the British rule and many advocates replied by renouncing their gainful
practice and joined the freedom movement. They went on strikes a number of times,
sometimes on the arrest of senior national leaders, sometimes on other popular causes
thereby participated in the national movement. On the question whether there is a gap
between courts and the advocates on the matter, specifically social responsibilities
attached with the legal profession, it is disclosed from the study that there is a need to
create better awareness and dedication among the advocates. One should not forget
that the achievement in terms of nobility, honour, esteem and respect conferred on
legal profession by the society is directly proportional to the level of input of response
towards social responsibilities by the legal profession. The study clearly reveals that
the route of social responsibility is not a bed of roses. It is a dangerous and tough path.
It is a path of service, dedication, sacrifice and devotion. It is a path where duties are
performed not with an eye on the returns or the rewards. The greatest reward is the
satisfaction that one has done his duty, and one is regarded so in the eyes of others. It
may, therefore, be concluded that the challenge before the legal profession today is to
solve the basic inconsistencies, which it faces, to conform to changing social values
and revolutionary technology, to admit itself in such a way as to provide more real,
effective and affordable access to legal advice and representation by ordinary citizens,
to maintain and defend the best of the old rules requiring loyalty, fidelity, honesty,
competence, diligence and dispassion in the clients and to conform to the growth and

268
changing composition of our society and of its legal profession. There is a need to
amend the procedural law. Advocates should not be unfavorable to acknowledging
that many changes which change to some extent the character and activities of the
legal profession. Embracing the old dogmas, just because they are old, is not logical.
Thus, old dogmas have to be abolished. The social interest, the public interest, the
interest of social justice, the interest of preservance of the fabric of our democratic
republic and survival of free community. The interest of the legal profession in its
status of monopoly and independence demand for responsible advocates, the great
advocates to respond to the call towards social responsibilities. On the other hand, a
refusal of this call will hit the legal profession the most, besides the court hitting
considerably the other interests also. The path of social responsibilities is not an easy
path. The role of advocates as a social engineer can come up as the tools of the social
change to meet the multi-dimensional challenges which the country is facing in
particular and the world in general. In the end, it can be concluded that "see good, do
good, be good" is the oxygen which the advocates have to inhale if they want to see
the survival of the Rule of Law in our Democratic Republic.

A person engaged in any profession is expected to possess the sufficient knowledge

and skill required for the purpose and he has a duty to exercise reasonable care while
performing his duties. The standard of care required in a particular case depends on
the professional skill expected from the persons of a particular class to which he
belongs. If an Advocate does not follow the case of his client and the same is
dismissed in default, and even if thereafter an advocate fails to provide necessary
information to his client and the matter in appeal is not tracked properly, an advocate
may be bound to refund the fees received by him and pay the compensation to the
3
client. Recently in the case of Madhavendra L Bhatnagar v. Bhavna Lall, the
Supreme Court bench has pulled up a lawyer who, in his advice to his client, allegedly
speculated about the outcome of a pending appeal before it. Prima facie, this, in our
opinion, is bordering on professional misconduct and needs to be proceeded with, the
bench comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari said and
directed the party to file an affidavit and disclose the name of the said advocate. The
Apex Court said that “We fail to understand as to how an advocate appearing in the
matter or instructing the litigant who is party before the Supreme Court of India

3 SLP(C)No. 14948 of 2020, decided on January 19, 2021, available at: https://www.livelaw.in/
pdf_upload/266262020351325466order19-jan-2021-387912.pdf (Visited on June 20, 2021).

269
would be in a position to prejudge the outcome of the proceedings or if we may say so
speculate about the outcome thereof. Prima facie, this, in our opinion, is bordering on
professional misconduct and needs to be proceeded with. To take this issue to its
logical end, we direct the respondent to file an affidavit and disclose the name of 6 the
advocate from India, who had so advised the respondent and on the basis of which she
was advised to take a stand before the Superior Court of Arizona, as noted in
Annexure P-2 to the I.A. No. 6177 of 2021. This proceeding will be treated as suo
moto action initiated by this Court. The respondent shall file affidavit within two
weeks from today and the suo moto proceedings to be notified by the Registry on
05.02.2021."
The Code of Standards of Professional Conduct and Etiquette or the legal
ethics, as one may call it is meant for being obeyed and practiced by the members of
legal profession in their practice. Not only this, they are to practice these codes of
conduct in their real life situations. For this they are to be familiar with legal ethics.
An advocate should not only be well acquainted with his rights and privileges as an
advocate and also with his ethical obligations, his responsibilities. He is always
presumed to exercise a reasonable degree of care. An advocate need not be always
correct he must exercise reasonable care to provide the best possible advice or service
to a client. An advocate should be able to differentiate between right and wrong in
matter of professional conduct without any hesitation or difficulty. This is essential
for the satisfaction of his own conscience, for the good name and honour of the
profession for the protection of the client and other concerned with litigation and for
the welfare of the general public. An advocate is at times faced with considerable
difficulty in deciding what is right or what is wrong in matters of professional
conduct. It is very much clear that there is not settled traditions as yet, which may
guide the younger beginners. The researcher finds that there are number of
temptations in the path to deviate from the line of integrity in which so many delicate
and difficult questions of duty are repeatedly arising. There are number of risks and
traps at the very step and the young advocate at the beginning of his career needs the
wisdom and self-denial, as well as the moral courage. Knowledge of legal ethics will
inspire respect for its ideals. Knowledge of high ideals of Bar will create in young
4
advocates pride and satisfaction in his calling.

4 A.S. Khan Afridi, "Legal Ethics: Traditions and Perspectives", 13 IBR 79 (1986).

270
 Generally speaking, the profession being a noble profession, a profession of
learned persons, noble persons and one would be expected that the knowledge of these
ethics must have been implanted in them much before they enter the legal profession.
But that ideal situation has never arisen, nor it would arise. The researcher finds that
in the present times advocates do not come from haughty background as they did
before independence. They are akin to the businessmen of various types who
associates with clients belonging to different sections of society. However, the top-
ranking advocates obtain their power mainly from professional esteem and income.
The advocates at lower and middle level obtain power from their sincerity, hard work
and professional knowledge. It is also a fact that some of the advocates are average
but enjoy the power because of their connections with some professional dons and
persons in position of power. Legal professionalism is also connected with political
problems due to the relations between advocates and politicians. Advocates have a
great understanding of the problems of people, and they take full benefit of this for
drawing out monetary gains. The Bar Councils do not have any proper control over
such extortions by the advocates. The advocates take full benefit of the professional
5
freedom for getting involved in such unprofessional activities. With the passage of
time the researcher find that there is growing commercialization in the delivery of
professional services. By and large, new beginners to the profession are hardly trained
according to the standards of ethical conduct and they carry poor impressions of their
own profession. The new beginners have no opportunity to learn professional ethics.
The lack of knowledge on the part of the advocates of the ethical obligations and their
importance in the society as well as to the profession does result in some discrepancy
on the part of advocates obeying these legal ethics. Sometimes, proper
implementation of the laws also does result in spread of knowledge about the laws. If
these legal ethics are effectively and properly enforced with sanctions, that would also
add to the spreading of knowledge about the laws. If these legal ethics are effectively
and properly implemented with sanctions, that would also add to the spreading of
knowledge about the importance and existence of these ethics. We find provision in
the Advocates Act that the Bar Councils of the respective States helped by the
Disciplinary Committees and the Bar Council of India are the agencies to enforce
these legal ethics by applying appropriate sanctions to prove deviance from the

5 K.L. Sharma, "Sociology of Law and Legal Profession: A Cross-Cultural Theoretical Perspective",
24 JILI 528 (1982).

271
standards of conduct. The Bar Councils of the States and the Bar Council of India are
the elected bodies. These are elected by individual members appearing on the roll of
the respective State Bars. Out of the elected members by the State Bar Council one is
sent to Bar Council of India. These members are assigned with the task of disciplining
the individual members of the legal profession. The Councils are also granted with the
job of safeguarding the rights, interests and privileges of the members of the legal
6
profession under Sections 6(l)(d) and 7(l)(d) of the Advocates Act, 1961. It becomes
very difficult to enforce the sanctions for deviance in professional conduct. Some soft
corner does develop among the members of the Bar Councils towards the members of
legal profession. Sometimes there arises a conflict between the two rolls which are to
be played by the Bar Councils. Such situations are bound to result in gentleness in the
implementation of the legal ethics.

This study leads the researcher to conclude that all is not well with the
enforcement machinery for the legal ethics. It has surely fallen in public esteem. The
time has come when legal profession must think of active involvement of talents from
other disciplines and participative cooperation from the consumers of justice to help
the legal profession to tide over its problem, which are not exclusively legal, but are
the product of complex modern realities. Such a change does not necessarily need the
law reforms as condition precedent. There is a need to tune ourselves according to the
system with dynamism and with a foresight on the future. The study reveals that the
Advocates Act, 1961 is not free from infirmities. It contains major defects and
contradictory provisions which need immediate amendment. For example, the Bar
Council of India is given power to receive a complaint about an advocate whose name
is not entered on any state rolls. But such a person is not an advocate as per Section
2(1)(a) of the said Act and is beyond the disciplinary jurisdiction of the Bar Council.
The unawareness of the public regarding the duties of advocates and the indifference
and fear of the clients have only contributed to taking the system further away from
the people and to decline of the standard of performance of the advocates. It is only
when the public become aware of their legal rights and demand better performance
from the advocates that we can even think of upgrading the standard of the legal
profession and transforming it into an instrument of justice. The foregoing study
further indicates that prolonged and frequent strikes by the advocates directly hit the

6 Act No. 25 of 1961.

272
public interest, the people's trust or confidence in the legal profession itself. The
abstention of courts should be a step of last resort, if justified. The legal consequences
of abstention of advocates from the court is that it is disgraceful for an advocate as an
officer of the court, who is to aid in the administration of justice. Boycotting the
courts of law hinder, obstruct or prevent implementation of law. Such conduct of the
advocates constitutes ground for disbarment or suspension. Therefore, he must be
honest in pleading the cause of clients before the court. It he is not honest enough in
his work, the result would be disastrous.

5.2. SUGGESTIONS
In view of the conclusion drawn from the study, the researcher proposes the
following suggestions which can help in establishing a system in which the legal well-
being of our community will be conserved and system of administration of justice will
be nourished up and the people's trust and confidence in it will be increased with
enhanced esteem for the legal profession:

(i) The most vital necessity is to create a prominent consciousness and

detailed knowledge among the law professionals about the social
responsibilities. The advocates cannot ignore their social
responsibilities. The public interest, social interest, the interest of social
justice, the interest of preservance of the fabric of our democratic
republic and survival of free community and the interest of legal
profession in its status of monopoly and independence demand for
responsible advocates to respond to the call towards social
responsibilities. A refusal to this call will attack the legal profession the
most besides hitting greatly the other interests also. For this, the
Universities and colleges have to create and design their courses
accordingly. The researcher does not find any such topic on social
responsibilities of the legal profession in any syllabus of the country.
Therefore, there is a need for introducing a special course on legal
profession and social responsibility both in
Bachelor‟s degree and Master‟s degree level. The course should be a
mandatory course for all.
(ii) Indian legal system has embraced number of rules and doctrines from
the English and the American justice administration systems. It shall be

273
 extremely fruitful for the society, to the system and to the future of the
Country if the Indian system incorporates the spirit of these systems
with regard to the advocates, legal education and advocacy.
(iii) The course content of the law studies in general both at LL.B. and
LL.M. should also cover with the case law method, the stress on skill
training in the advocating to the future advocates. The skills should
comprise the art of interviewing, the science and art of negotiation,
reconciliation. There should be special skilled training in the art and
science of problem solving, with the focus on the study of dispute
resolving techniques and skills. The faculties of the law students, to find
ingenious ways and means for the problems facing them, must be
evolved in a creative way by applying the current psychological and
educational teaching aids. They should be motivated to come out with
their proposals by exposing them to real problems in the selected fields.
(iv) The course content should also be outlined in such a way that this
creates among the future advocates the belief towards the constitutional
values, commitments and our constitutional goals. The constitutional
values of equality, liberty, fraternity, the integrity, unity and the
sovereignty of the country must have a sanctified place in their hearts.
(v) Refurbishment of the legal education is another aspect, which desires to
be emphasized because the real answer for most legal reform lies in
improving the legal education in the country, which will lead to the
betterment of the overall situation in the judiciary. The quality of legal
education transmitted to a student or a prospective advocate plays a vital
role in the sense that it is at that stage he should be encouraged to
appraise the profession as the one chiefly meant for social and public
good and that he should do every little thing at his command for the
expeditious and proper disposal of case without being excessively
affected by his own individual interest only. Although in recent years,
great number of law schools have established in every state, but the
quality of legal education provided in these schools is pitiable and it
does not match the challenges of the profession. Some reforms aimed at
enhancing the legal education have been formed recently in the country,
but much remains to be done.
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(vi) There is necessity for developing machinery at all levels, i.e., the
National, State and District level, whose function would be to constantly
study and survey, research and investigate the areas into which the legal
profession is needed to perform its social responsibilities. This
machinery should set apart the resources and men available in the legal
professionals at their respective levels who would do the needed pro-
bono services. The Bar Council of India, the State Bar Councils and the
Bar Associations must be activated to perform this duty. These
machineries can be named as National Committee on Social
Responsibilities and similarly and State Committee and District
Committees. The fields to be covered for survey can be many such as
bonded labour, the labour in the unorganised sector, the tribal people's
problems, oppression against women, the child labour, the needed law
reforms and so on.
(vii) There is a necessity for launching of a sizeable legal services scheme
under which there would be available to every village with a population
of 1000, to begin with, a trained, qualified, whole-timer advocate for
taking care of the legal requirements of the people in the villages. The
legal services will be provided at their door-step under this scheme.
Such an advocate can be given any of the nomenclature like People's
Advocate, Public Advocate, Village Advocate, Village Law Officer, or
Barefoot Advocate. He will not wait for the people in a legal problem
come to him, rather he would live with them, he would be one among
them and he would keep in touch with the people and carry-onthe
surveys of not only their legal problems, but also about their rights,
privileges and entitlements and advise them there itself. He would try to
determine their problem through his skills of dispute resolving, problem
solving through negotiations, reconciliation, etc. He would also be
expected to act as a local liaison officer between the different agencies
whose aid could be sought to tackle the disputes. His advice would not
be litigation oriented but with problem solving orientation. He would act
as a primary institution to furnish preventive legal services at the
grassroot level. Such a scheme can only be executed by the State. If
enforced, it would bring a great revolutionary change in the system of
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 dispensation of justice.
(viii) There is a need to set up primary legal clinics which should give legal
advice to the people at fairly economical prices and try to resolve these
legal problems resulting in better legal health of the community. The
complex cases can be sent to the bigger law clinics at the Tehsil or
district level only the cases which could not be solved in these clinics
can be taken to the courts. This would incorporate a large number of
trained advocates and help in lessening the over-crowding of advocates
in the courts, and resulting in the reduction of unhealthy competition and
upgrading the legal services. This would also enable the legal
profession, with the support from the State, to perform actively the
social responsibilities it owes towards the society. The aim of the policy
should be on preventive legal services.
(ix) There is a big need of an hour that a new provisions relating to social
responsibilities must be framed in the Bar Council of India Rules by the
Bar Council of India.
(x) It is required to have a Board of Advisors comprising leading Jurists,
Judges, Attorney-General, Advocate-Generals and Senior Advocates to
look into the reasonable demands of the advocates and settle them.
(xi) Advocates should play a productive role in bringing justice to the
individuals.
(xii) On the question of the legal profession there must be a system under
which the State Bar Council draw up an annual report on the working of
the legal profession including focus on problems faced by the advocates
and their actual demands, the functioning of disciplinary authorities, the
pro-bono services, the strikes by advocates, and all the related aspects.
On the basis of these reports and its own experience the Bar Council of
India should prepare a detailed report every year which should be placed
in front of the Parliament. The nation should have a chance to have a
firsthand information on the hurdles experienced by the legal profession.
A national debate can definitely help find out solution to their problems.
Furthermore, the necessary law reforms can be made as and when they
are needed.
(xiii) Because of the falling image of advocates in the society, the researcher
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 strongly feels that there is a huge necessity in the country to teach that
sense of pride that the members of the Bar had been a part of the
fraternity. This could be done by introducing ethical values in members
that once were feature of the profession. A continuing legal education
programme with emphasis on the legal ethics is much needed.
(xiv) Another area needing reform is the clothing that advocates wear in court.
An obedience to the traditions should not be at the cost of comfort,
which itself has bearing an efficiency. It makes little sense in a hot
country like ours, even if the courtrooms in the superior courts are air-
conditioned, to be wearing collars and bands and coats and gowns all the
year round. We must think of simpler and more functional uniforms
compatible with the dignity, respect and soberness of the legal
profession.
(xv) Legal professionals should be careful in passing remarks against other
legal professionals who had represented the client. The complaint of the
client about the advocate should be verified from the other and the
record of the client should be properly examined. The legal
professionals should always keep the client‟s problems secret.
(xvi) The disputes and tussle between the Bench and the Bar should be
lessened. Even if there is a dispute between them or where there is a
reasonable accusation about the conduct of a Judge, the Bar may
complain to the proper forum. The members of the Bar Association have
no right to shun the courts in view of the duties, which they are required
to discharge. Even the Apex Court has rightly stated that in rare cases
where independence, integrity and dignity of the Bar and bench are in
danger, courts may ignore to a protest abstention from work but for not
more than one day.
(xvii) The advocates should expand the legal literacy, create the legal
awareness and promote new legal culture which cherishes genuinely the
importance of liberty and equality for all in every sphere of the life.
(xviii) The reputation of the profession and the professional status of the
advocate intensifies as we move upward in the hierarchy i.e., practicing
at Supreme Court is viewed to be more esteemed as compared to

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 practice at High Court or District Court. The advocates who practice at
higher levels of practice are expected to reflect positively the image of
the profession as compared to advocates practicing at lower levels. In
the case of those advocates who practice at more than one level it was
found that they associate themselves mainly to the highest level of
practice, which is viewed as more prestigious as compared to the lower
levels. Thus, the advocates must not reluctant in practising in the High
Courts or the Supreme Court as it will raise their reputation in the
society and it will enhance their knowledge in litigation.

(xix) Some advocates make a lot of settlements on issues of professional

ethics and morality. Women advocates at times go up to any level
breaching the limits of both professional and personal morality. Such
advocates excel professionally but at the cost of moral values and
decency which they generally ignore while establishing their career. In
the process one cannot guarantee that nobility of the profession would
be protected. They get a lot of business and cases because their brokers
attract people of sure success and even these advocates have a well-
developed network with the help of which most of the time they
succeed. But it is not a healthy practice because if everyone goes for
malpractices law would become a business rather than service.

(xx) Touting is very much common in the profession notwithstanding the fact
that it is unethical and immoral. Almost fifty percent of advocates admit
that touts are helpful in getting business at least in the starting years of
the practice. Touting plays an important role in legal practice specially
in the process of professional growth and the rise in professional
hierarchy.

(xxi) In case of legal education, the Bar council of India may also play a vital
role in this direction. Serious efforts on the part of Bar council of India
can definitely refine the legal education system. The endeavour of the
Bar Council of India should also be supported by the Government as
well as the public at large. The poor standard of the new law graduate
enrolled as an advocate has surely affected the standards of the
profession. This is basically because the law colleges, which are

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 completely incompetent in supplying the legal education, have turned
out these advocates. A great number of the law colleges in the country
do not have good infrastructure. These colleges are nothing but merely
teaching shops, which fetch huge money from the students in the name
of fees and other charges. It should be prevented. The Bar Council of
India need to strongly probe and supervise the existing as well as a
newly proposed law colleges. The careful supervision of the law
colleges would surely discourage its malfunctioning. The reality is that
these colleges are mostly controlled by the private organisations or
registered societies. The Bar Council of India should put an end to this
type of culture. This is very bold step to be taken by the Bar Council of
India. There is an urgent need to close down those law colleges that do
not have a qualified faculty staff and the required infrastructure to
effectively run the course. It would be desirable to cancel the sanction
provided to such institutions which practically exist only on papers
operating from a small place as its office. The Bar Council of India will
have to de-recognize law degrees of such universities which fail to close
down these law shops and provide for the prescribed facilities like
requisite building, qualified staff, and good hostels. It must be assured
that every law college has a well equipped law library with proper
copies of text books and other reference material for a comparative study
of the subject. To enable the law teachers as well as students to be aware
of the latest information or recent amendments in legal field, the law
libraries should be well equipped with law reviews, magazines and legal
periodicals. Book bank scheme should be provided in every law library
for the assistance of needy students. As long as the law shops will
continue to operate as money makers and keep on churning out absentee
law graduates, any effort focused at enhancing the standards of legal
education is bound to fail.
(xxii) The advocates are upper class in the society having great awareness of
the dimensions and dynamics of the life and familiar with all sections of
the society. They should render effective leadership to achieve the goals
and ideals incorporated in our Constitution, to form a society free from
exploitation, illiteracy, ignorance and securing freedom with economic
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 justice. In fact, the advocates should act as the messengers of peace in
the society. They are to assist in maintaining the rule of law and promote
the administration of justice and help in the implementation of
fundamental rights of the people.
(xxiii) Advocates are considered as protectors, preservers and ministers of
justice focused at the maintenance of a welfare society in which they
deal with a number of human relations. The advocates should happily
and openly give his legal services to the needy poor litigants without any
fees. They should supply their services to the public without any
biasness.
(xxiv) There is an immediate requirement to reconsider the policy on
advertisement by advocates. This matter has also been taken up by the
Bar Council of India and by the Society of Indian Law Firms to allow
the advocates and law firms to have limited rights of informative
advertisement as distinguished from comparative and competitive
advertisements. It is being argued that such kind of informative
advertisement would benefit Indian advocates in general specially when
foreign business houses are allowed to do business in India. Advertising,
if allowed will have to be subject to certain rules and regulations. One
must not forget that advertisement industry itself has its rules and
regulations. Hence, a regulatory mechanism should be formed.
(xxv) Advocates should never ignore that they are the servants of justice and
therefore their conduct must be honest, fair and decent. Both the
advocates and the judges must never fail to recall that they are partners
in a court of law. They should not bear malice towards each other by
having issues among themselves. If there is malice among advocates and
judges the justice cannot be administered effectively and confidence and
trust of the common man in the court of law will unsettle and this is not
in the interest of our society as a whole.
(xxvi) There is a need for the advocates to act as a watchdog of the rights of
every citizen. At the same time, it is his duty to convince the citizens
about the necessity to perform the duties which go with the rights. It is
within the domain of the functions of an advocate to inform the society
that preservation of rights depends not only on courts of law or
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 advocates alone but it must be preserved by the common man in the
society also.

(xxvii) Legal fraternity and advocates also must spare some time to help
needy persons free of costs. It must be also made mandatory through the
Advocates Act asking advocates for doing pro bono services by not only
giving legal advices to poor persons but also by drafting their cases and
defending them in the court of law. Though money is necessary for
livelihood in the society but sometimes money can be sacrificed to get
spiritual and emotional satisfaction by helping poor and needy people.
Advocate‟s community must also take some serious actions against
those colleagues who are found misusing the funds meant for poor
persons, do not take effective care for them and carelessly handle their
cases.

(xxviii)Law institutions and colleges should not feel that by teaching simply
legal provisions to the students in class rooms they have performed their
duty. Such teachings should be practical in nature starting from the basic
root level and must not be limited to the books only. Students under the
guidance of their teachers, officials of legal service authorities, NGO‟s
etc. must be appointed to work in the slum areas, remote villages by
providing knowledge and creating awareness about the rights and
beneficial laws and schemes to the needy persons. Holding of frequent
seminars, conferences, workshops in colleges to create impact in the
minds of the law students who would be future judges, advocates etc.
would be much better than giving them theoretical knowledge of the
availability of legal services. Special marks, incentives and recognition
in public to those students who worked in the remote areas for creating
awareness of law would surely assist the society as more and more law
students would join the mainstream.

(xxix) Legal aid is not a charity, but a constitutional duty of the State. All
legal aid functionaries are required to strive and make sure that this
constitutional duty is fulfilled and obeyed. One must focus to make
certain the dispensation of equal justice for all. It is rather sad that even
after number of decades of our independence, the downtrodden and

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weaker sections of the society feel helpless in pursuit of justice and this
should be a matter of concern for all those who are engaged in
administration of justice. The legal aid functionaries in the country
should endeavour to form every possible strategy to make sure that not
even the weakest amongst the weaker sections of the society, living in
the remotest part of the country, feels that he has to suffer injustice in
silence. Special legal aid schemes for women, children, persons in
custody and backward sections of the society need to be evolved and
propagated with honest sincerity. Despite all problems, obstacles and
constraints, we can hope that the different legal services authorities shall
become a potent force in achieving the aims and dreams of the founding
fathers of the Constitution of India and also the people with whom lies
the sovereign power of the State. Legal awareness will surely create trust
and confidence among them and will enable them to make conscious
and careful use of law as an instrument to protect them and their
interests.

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