The Catch-22 of litigation

by Anonymous | September 09, 2011

(Retd.) Justice B.N. Srikrishna is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India and a former Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court. He spoke with Rainmaker’s Vidya Raja, about his recollections of the Emergency days. The first part of the conversation can be viewed here, and the second part here. The video is best viewed in full-screen. If your office or college has blocked access to YouTube, please scroll below to listen to the audio version of the conversation, or read edited extracts from the transcript of the conversation.

Click the play icon on the media bar below to listen to the audio version of the conversation

Edited extracts from the transcript of the conversation:

He recalled shouting slogans against the Emergency. “We used to congregate, and the seniors used to come; Ram Jethmalani came to fight the Sadhana case in court, and we all used to stand and cheer for him...We used to gather in the Chief Justice’s chamber when Justice Kanthawala was the Chief Justice; we appreciated the way the Police Commissioner was put in the box and questioned by Ram Jethmalani”. He reminisced with a smile, “It was fun”. But on a serious note, he condemned the governance of the time: “During the Emergency, as someone said, when people were asked to bend, they crawled – even the judges crawled, and they are the last bastion of the people!”

Raja then asked him how difficult it was for juniors entering into the litigation field today, given that the lure of money in the corporate sector is so high. Justice Shrikrishna was hassled by this: “The National Law Schools were set up to improve the standard of the Bar, but somehow it has become counter-productive, as the corporates come and offer very high amounts. Then when a junior is told that they will earn next to nothing for the next ten years, it is very difficult.” But he felt there was something wrong with the system itself. “Earlier, the solicitor used to look around and select a junior who was promising; there was no question of not making money. Even if you asked for an adjournment, you’d get some amount. As your experience grew, so would your reputation. It is a Catch-22 situation: The more you’re known, the more work you’ll get, but you won’t become known unless you get work.”

(Retd.) Justice B.N. Srikrishna

He credited his easy life to the fact that the stayed with his parents. “I didn’t have a problem of immediate survival, but I can appreciate that if you have economic constraints, seniors should pay juniors some form of subsistence money at least… A senior is also getting something out of a junior; he can definitely part with some portion of the fee. If every Senior were to do it, there is definitely hope for the younger generation to join the bar.”

The next part of the interview is here.