Advocates – Responsibility of – Rendering assistance to indigent litigant:
Held: Young advocates joining the bar, must volunteer to assist the litigants who cannot engage the services of a counsel due to lack of means or awareness whenever an opportunity presents itself – Moreover, they should render the best legal assistance to the litigant without any expectation in return for their professional services – By these gestures of volunteering to represent indigent litigants, advocates can collectively make a statement to the society at large that the legal profession stands for the right to have access to justice and equality before law, not just in theory but in practice too – Such efforts of advocates, though in an individual capacity but acting towards a common objective of bringing an amicable quietus to the litigation, would send out a message that counsel are not hinderances in the process of parties reaching a mutually agreeable settlement, particularly in labour and matrimonial matters – They can also effectively play their parts in helping the parties end their disputes, and add positively to the alternate dispute mechanisms like mediation and conciliation – These are opportunities to make meaningful contributions to the society, and as a result the legal profession as a whole would gain the goodwill of the society in general and indigent litigants in particular. [Para 13.3]
Constitution of India – Right to justice – Role of advocates – Indigent litigant – Discussed.
Constitution of India – Right to justice – Misconception needs to be broken:
Held: Misconception amongst the litigant public that a hearing in this Court is available only to those who have the wherewithal needs to be broken – The duty to provide ease of access to justice rests upon every member of the legal profession and the requisite message needs to be disseminated from the portals and corridors of this Court in the first instance in both letter and spirit – The enduring service of the amicus curiae in the present case is a poignant step in that direction – The counsel has appeared fourteen times before this Court for representing the petitioner, during a period of two years when this matter was pending before this Court – The petitioner, admittedly being a man of limited means, has not been able to pay a penny to the counsel for his services – Yet, the counsel has dedicatedly appeared before this Court during these two years to not just represent the petitioner but also to assist this court in reaching a just and proper conclusion to this case. [Paras 14, 14.1 and 14.2]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Headnotes prepared by: Ankit Gyan. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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