"In every case, I have been following 2 presumptions. Firstly, I presume that the Judge knows no Law. The purpose behind it is that I should have inclination to present each and every aspect of the case in the best possible manner to the Judge so that he should not lose sight of any material fact. Secondly, I presume that my opponent advocate knows more about the case than me. This presumption will caution me to gather more legal materials for a better preparation of the case in every stage."
Dr. B. Mohandoss
My dear Budding Lawyers!
‘Purpose of law is social engineering’, so said professor Roscoe Pound. When the law is operating in the media of Socio-economic circumstances of the people, definitely it must act as a social engine. For the same reason, every lawyer working for the cause of the man can be rightly considered a social engineer.
When compared to the sphere of human life, the operational sphere of law is wider. The life history of a man starts with his birth and ends with his death. We call it popularly, ‘from cradle to grave’. But the law starts its operation even before the birth of the man and continues even after the death of the man. The rights of an unborn child are very significant. Similarly, we cannot forget about the operation of the laws relating to the succession of the property of the deceased.
Law is omnipresent like the air prevailing everywhere in the globe. Law surrounds and acts upon every stage of human life. I am reminded of the following cine song written by poet Kannadasan at this juncture:- “tPL tiu cwT; tPjp tiu kidtp;;;;;;;;;; fhL tiu gps;is filrptiu ahNuh; This song asks us to think over “who accompanies us till the last” ? I very earnestly feel that the term ‘who’ should be replaced with ‘What’. When we ask this question to ourselves, several times, the emphatic answer will only be ‘law’. Yes, it is only Law that accompanies the man throughout his life time.
Law is an instrument of social justice and it solves social problems that surrounds the society. Here again I am reminded of a popular quotation from Bhagwat Gita in which Lord Krishna is stated to have said:- whenever the social problems reach their heights, I will take avatar (rebirth) to contain those problems. We may compare this situation with formation of new laws or amendments of existing laws to solve the social problems that reach unbearable limits.
To cite an illustration, for quite a long time eve-teasing was prevailing in the society only as sporadic incidents. But with passage of time, the incidents of eve-teasing increased rapidly and at one point of time a student of Ethiraj college for Women became a victim of eve-teasing by a fellow student resulting in her death. It shook the conscience of people from all walks of life leading to mobilization of public opinion for the formation of a new law to eradicate eve-teasing. Here Law took its avatar in the form of Tamil Nadu Eve-Teasing Act and subsequently “Indecent Representation of Women Prohibition Act” was enacted by the Parliament. To quote another illustration, we may be reminded of the formation of Disaster Management Act, 2005 as a remedial measure when lots of people in India were affected by Tsunami, resulting in colossal loss to their lives and belongings.
The Courts have also played a vital role in giving new reliefs through interpretative techniques. We may brush up our memory about the judgments of the Hon’ble Apex Court interpreting Article 21 of the Constitution and holding that right to speedy trial, right to legal aid, etc., are Constitutional rights implied in the right to life.
I consider that each and every case is a fit subject for research. In some cases, I have done lot of works like over-hauling (not repairing) a machine. These steps have increased the success rate in my profession enormously. More than that, in as many as 36 types of cases, I have obtained new reliefs to my clients. The first one was the Saraswathi’s case in 1980 in which I got the fine imposed by the Magistrate, cancelled completely by the Sessions Court (for the first time) by giving a new interpretation that reduction of fine in Cr.PC includes cancellation. The last one was in 2020 in the United India Insurance company’s case in which the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal granted interest on compensation amount at 5.5% (for the first time) as against the prevailing rate of 7.5% based on my new line of arguments.
In the context of new reliefs to the litigants, the young legal buds like you can do better.
The new entrants in the legal profession should know that every profession is over- crowded. But the over-crowdedness is at the bottom level only. There are vacancies at the top. If you show your excellence, you can reach the top and fill the gap. You may not get sizeable income in the initial stages (say for about 5 years or so). But if you continue your profession with sincere and hard work, your income will go on increasing rapidly. The waiting profession of law is similar to the growth of casuarina crop which fetches more money after some years, when compared to paddy crop which is short-term one, but fetches less money. As such, you should not compare yourself with your friends/counter parts in other jobs, who have started their earnings earlier than you.
For the last 42 years I have been following my own methods in the technique of ‘lawyering’. In every case, I have been following 2 presumptions. Firstly, I presume that the Judge knows no Law. The purpose behind it is that I should have inclination to present each and every aspect of the case in the best possible manner to the Judge so that he should not lose sight of any material fact. Secondly, I presume that my opponent advocate knows more about the case than me. This presumption will caution me to gather more legal materials for a better preparation of the case in every stage.
I have been optimistic in handling the cases and request the budding lawyers to follow the same in the following order. Take all the possible steps lawfully to win the case. Even if you lose the case, don’t lose the Judge. In some cases, though the decision is not in-favour of your client, the Judge would have appreciated your significant efforts in the case. Even if you lose the Judge, don’t lose the heart. You have to act like a phoenix, reborn after being set on fire, for continuing the profession with renewed strength.
There has been a wide gap between the law in books and law in practice. Please get yourself well acquainted with the legal drafting and the procedural formalities in presenting the case properly before the courts.
Last, but not least, I would like to make a clarion call to the budding lawyers to get themselves closely associated with legal aid clinics/mediation centres attached to the Legal Services Authority, for learning the practical aspects of law and realities of life.
(Dr. B. Mohandoss is our mentor. He graduated from the Government law college at Puducherry in 1979 and has since been in active Court practice for over 42 years at Puducherry.)
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