Proposed Legal Practitioners Act, 2010 may further worsen the situation?

Durga Rao

I have read the proposed Legal Practitioners Act, 2010 and the object may appear to be good, but, it will create so many problems and further damage the profession. When it comes improving the legal system, the unfortunate thing is that we are not addressing the root problem though we are interested to make laws. Except the issue of “All India Bar Council Examination” and the issue of Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, I have not seen any practical and reasonable steps towards correcting our legal system and strengthening it. By reading the provisions of Legal Practitioners Act, 2010, I find that an impression is sought to be created that clients are being cheated by the Legal Practitioners. It is true that there are professionals who cheat the clients and who do not follow any principles. It is also true that there are habitual litigants or public whose only job is to play with the legal system and I have personally seen these kinds of litigants. Legal Professionals who believe in might and getting the things done at any cost may be spared by habitual litigants or public, but, the principled advocates will often get harassed by the litigants or the public. One should not see the legal profession at par with other professions like Medical Profession. The relationship between the client and the legal professional is very complex and it is very difficult to know as to what has happened between them and one can not also easily infer things based on versions or based on what has been recorded by the court during the course of the proceeding. One should not defend the lawyers who do not follow any standards and principles and they should be strictly dealt with. But, at the same time, it is also important to protect the legal professionals from the frivolous complaints and it will cause irreparable damage to the legal professional and it leads to deviation. If the complaints against legal professionals sought to be entertained loosely, then, there should be stringent provisions against frivolous complainants. We have obsolete fee rules and it may require a re-look and revision.

While a disciplinary action is to be taken against the professionals clearly deviating from standards which require a revision, certain issues can very easily be addressed. As per the practice, if a client wants to change his advocate, then, he has to get the consent from the advocate concerned. The object behind this mechanism may be good, but, it is being misused. The legal professionals may fight for their fees independently, but, they should not be allowed to prevent the client in changing his contractual service. On the same footing, a legal professional should be allowed to get discharged from the case on a Memo to the court and on many occasions, legal professional may have to face harassment from the client or the client may insist the advocate to defend a clearly mis-leading case. By taking these simple steps, the issues can be addressed. I am very firm on one thing that legal professionals should not forced to serve the public as a charity and it should be left to the discretion of the professional concerned. The regulations governing the legal professionals should be realistic. On the same lines, Hon’ble Judges may feel that frivolous complaints can be made against them. But, the only worry is that there is no mechanism at all earlier to deal with the clearly corrupt judges and now, it is sought to be addressed.

Plethora of complaints can be filed against the legal professionals if the proposed law is implemented and it doen’t mean that the legal professionals are wrong always and we should also be aware of the people who always try to abuse the process of law. We have consumer redressl forums now and everybody knows about the frivolous complaints too. As such, habitual litigants should not be allowed to harass a legal professional and if is allowed to happen, then, it will further worsen profession. If effective mechanism sought to be established against the legal professionals to deal with the professional indiscipline, then, there should be clear provisions that technicalities be ignored in the course of proceeding and there should be a provision for stringent action against false complaints. There should also be a provision, based on the averments in the complaint, to demand the complainant to provide a bond or guarantee that he will compensate the damage to the professional in the event of complaint getting proved as false/motivated. I can give plenty of examples as to how a legal professional can be an easy target for habitual litigants under the cover of consumer protection etc.

I don’t understand the reforms being mooted and I strongly feel that the root problems are not being addressed properly. We don’t want eye-wash action and we want concrete steps which will work.

Note: the views expressed are my personal.