Law and the layman.

Out of the entire student population, the law degree holds the third most popular course which students opt for in India. Why ..one may ask. Every one has an all together different but somewhat similar opinion meeting at a common point. It is because to the layman…it is the popular word “cool” generally meaning “Cool (aesthetic), an aesthetic of attitude, behavior, and style” which uplifts your image in the eyes of your peers.

So law is basically a “cool” profession in which you wear smart black and white clothes, perfect for camouflaging fat for that thin look everyone aspires for, and go to regal courtrooms where you get paid to argue, which most people are rather fond of, and get paid tons of money if you are working in a law firm.

So , yes…why not law? Law is cool and you don’t have to study much to pass the exams. You can work hard but party harder thereby doing justice to the saying “too much work makes john a dull boy.” Or whatever the boys name is. Pardon my memory.

But everyone views it as an evil profession…well not everyone but most people, specially my grandmother who thinks lawyers are the devils advocate. Well..if we take examples of our own country’s great lawyer Mr. ram jethmalani, we might begin to have similar views as my grandmother. He, the supposed “great” lawyer is just a known face of justice doing just the opposite of what he is supposed to do. For example he has taken up unpopular defense cases such as defending the killers of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, people involved in market scams (Harshad Mehta and Ketan Parekh), and a host of gangsters and smugglers including the British citizen Daisy Angus who was acquitted of hashish smuggling after serving 5 years in jail. Recently he was in the news for taking up the defense of Manu Sharma, prime accused in the Jessica Lall murder case.

And this person has now his eyes on a seat in our political system. It will be a total breakdown of our faith in our democratic system if he is elected P.M. for which he contested against the then Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee as an independent candidate from Lucknow with the support of Indian National Congress but thankfully lost.

It is sad that the whole idea of law and its morals and the principles of justice attached with it is withering away with time and all that is left to it is the selfish motive of people who want to commercialize justice and treat is like a means to attain material wealth and not the golden concept of “nyaya” to which we all have a birth right as humans.

But it doesn’t mean all hope is lost, we can still make a change in our judicial system if we want to that is. Because believing in something and then actually carrying it out are two totally different things and to superimpose them together in a fashion which actually serves the purpose of justice is a rather difficult task. Like for example we all want justice, we believe in self righteousness and fighting for the truth but how often does it happen that we let injustice happen in front of our eyes or to us without raising our voices or just accepting it as a way of life. ??  And the answer to that is very often.

We as law students have the power in our hands to make a change , to free Justitia from the strangulating clutches of corruption, greed and self-aggrandizement that many have put her through. It isn’t just ignorance which makes the common man perceive law as a profession for liars and people who hide their true colors behind the veil of truthfulness serving for justice and salvation of those people who have been wronged and deprived of the human essences of life, justice being one of the main pillars of humanity as god intended it to be; no..it is the continuing clashes between truth and lies out of which most lawyers prefer to stand for lies as that makes them rich but only in monetary terms, which is so evident to everyone.

Therefore, it is time that we serve our laws for what purposes they were conceived for. And that is serving justice with truth and pride and abandoning all our desires for material wealth as no amount of money can ever enrich our souls and make us in the true sense “allah ka bande”.

We as law students and future students can and should take this profession for noble men as it was supposed to be, to its highest pinnacle of success and truly make it a profession to do welfare for all the aggrieved people and thus serving the will of God.

And if we achieve this, lawyers will be placed next to doctors and other professionals and social workers who serve mankind and will no more be viewed by the layman as the ‘devil’s advocate’.

Let us not be swayed by the illusion of happiness which we think will be optimum if we have huge bank balances by selling our knowledge and talent to the cause of injustice, let us all stand up against it and for the millions of people who deserve justice.

Let truth shine. Let truth win.

k.

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