I STILL DESPAIR AT THE LAW’S DELAYS
One of the leading Senior Advocates in the Supreme Court and presently Vice President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Mr. Raju Ramachandran always wanted to become a journalist, but he was destined to become a lawyer. Although he had no legal background, it was out of his sheer will power and dedication that he has today attained eminence in this challenging profession. In the lighter shades of the day, Mr. Ramachandran speaks to our correspondent Renu Sharma.
Why did you choose law as your profession?
I graduated in Economics from St. Stephens College, New Delhi. Even when I had joined college I had thought of law as my future profession. What attracted me to the profession apart from the law itself was the thrill of oral advocacy and the independence which this profession offers. My father was a railway officer, an engineer by profession. As such I had no legal background, which many lawyer’s children have. It was not a natural choice for me to opt for law. But I had an uncle, late Mr. MK Ramamurthi, a prominent Senior Advocate, who had started practice in the Supreme Court without any legal background. He was somehow an inspiration to me for joining this profession.
Do you agree that justice delayed is justice denied? What measures can lawyers as a community take for speedy justice?
Yes, I do agree that justice delayed is justice denied. Even after spending over a quarter of a century in the legal profession, I still despair at the law’s delays, and always wish that people close to me never get involved in any litigation. I think that courts must become more strict and unnecessary adjournments should be refused. Cases should be decided within a specified time span and there must be a time limit for presenting oral arguments. In this first decade of this new century, we must be able to devise a system by which a client and his lawyer both know the time their case will be called for hearing, the time it will end and the time when the judgement will be delivered. Lawyers as a community must co-operate in evolving this system. This would necessarily mean preparation of written briefs, which of course would require a high degree of competence on part of the lawyers. I must further add that the whole mindset of the legal profession and the public perception of a lawyer as one who helps you to fight a case in court, must change. It is imperative that we evolve an institutionalized and speedy mechanism for mediation, conciliation and other pre-trial modes of settlement.
Is arbitration the need of the hour? Are you satisfied with the new Arbitration Act of 1996, where the indulgence/role of the courts is almost negligible?
Arbitration is the need of the hour. The new arbitration act is […]
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