Supreme Court Justice Madan B. Lokur on Monday said due to a mushrooming growth in law colleges across the country, 70,000 lawyers are graduating year after year which was going to have an impact on litigation.
“How are you going to make so many lawyers busy? We are talking about one million lawyers who are already on the rolls. Are there as many cases or do lawyers generate litigation. I think these are questions we'll have to look at,” Mr. Lokur said.
Abysmal state
Speaking at a function to mark “The Lawyers’ of India Day” held by the Bar Association of India (BAI), Mr. Lokur highlighted about the ‘abysmal’ state of Law Universities across the country.
He said the universities not only were finding it difficult to get good faculty members but also facing a problem with the pay scales. He added that India does not have a clear definition of pendency as even a case which is filed 30 minutes ago and updated on the Internet is included in the pendency.
Continuing with its tradition of facilitating eminent members of the bar, which began in 2016, BAI this year facilitated nine members and a law teacher award for their contribution to the legal profession and the society. They include senior advocates Ashok Aggarwal, Indira Jaising, Koka Raghava Rao, Rafique Dada, Sriram Panchu, Sudipto Sarkar, former Attorney General for India Mukul Rohatgi, Attorney-at-Law Pradip Kumar Khaitan, advocate Sadhana Ramachandran and Prof. Ranbir Singh, Vice-Chancellor of the National Law University, Delhi.
Delhi HC Chief Justice Rajendra Menon spoke about the lack of proper infrastructure facilities in the lower judiciary and subordinate courts. He gave the example of district courts in Bihar where 80% of the courts do not have boundary walls. Attorney General K.K. Venugopal said the legal profession is no longer a noble profession how it earlier used to be. He noted that legal profession has become a fiercely competitive business.
“I find that we lawyers, most of us, do not have a real commitment. We are not willing to do pro bono and legal aid work,” he said, adding that on the one hand lawyers are said to charge high fees but in rural areas, many lawyers find it difficult to make ends meet. BAI said it intends to celebrate December 3 as “The Lawyers’ of India Day” as it coincides with the birthday of the first President of India Dr. Rajendra Prasad, who was also a lawyer.