BY LAWZ BUREAU.
“A judge and a lawyer, are two sides of a coin”
Being the son of Mr. H N Bahuguna made little difference to Vijay Bahuguna, for he had to start his career from scratch. He never sought any help from his father, who was always busy with his party activities. He and his family always wanted him to become a lawyer, for his maternal grandfather and other close members of the family were all lawyers. He studied law and started practise in Allahabad. Soon he was able to create a name for himself in the profession. He was later offered Judgeship in the Allahabad High Court, which he accepted. He has to his credit many important judgements. Mr. Bahuguna also has a very active political life. He has stood in the Lok Sabha elections from Uttaranchal. Now practising in the Supreme Court as a Senior Advocate, Mr. Vijay Bahuguna shares his experiences of life as an Advocate, Judge and a Politician with our correspondent Ms. Renu Sharma.
How did you enter into the legal profession?
Since my childhood it was my parent’s desire that I become a lawyer. I was brought up with this thought in mind. It was not that I did not have a legal background. My maternal uncle and my maternal grandfather were lawyers. I was quite familiar with the profession, as I had seen my other family members as lawyers. With the passage of time law became a passion and my determination to become a lawyer grew stronger.
What motivated you to leave your successful practice and accept Judgeship?
In the legal profession a judge and a lawyer, I believe, are two sides of the same coin. As a lawyer your duty is to argue a case to the best of your capability, and as a judge your duty is to decide the matter to the best of your ability. I had already put in quite a few years of practise when I was offered judgeship. I never hesitated in thinking to accept it. Of course, I knew that I was sacrificing my well-established practise, but I was young at that time and never gave it a second thought. My father-in-law had been a Judge of the Supreme Court. This had given me an opportunity to see the judiciary from a close angle. I was very fascinated with the life of a judge and always wanted to be one. So when I was given this opportunity I intended not to miss it.
Can you tell us something about your daily life during your tenure as a Judge?
Life as a Judge, I would say, is very tough. You are always strained with the tension of doing Justice. Of course you have to study each and every case which is listed before you the next day. As a Judge you must be ready with your stock of questions and queries on which you might want to confer with the Arguing Counsel.
As a lawyer you always have a choice of accepting briefs which you enjoy doing. As a judge you do not have such a choice. You have to do all cases, the law involved in which you might not have studied earlier. You have to be familiar or rather well versed on the subject on which you have to decide a case. So, you see, one develops a knack for study and do research, as a Judge. You have to do an in depth study of the new laws, which as a lawyer you might have never wanted to explore, by choice.