ALL INDIA SEMINAR ON ‘SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON LEGAL FRATERNITY’ Date : 11-11-2005
Mr.Vijay Hansaria, President, LAF opened the seminar by enumerating the aims and objectives of the Forum and highlighting the activities undertaken so far. He thanked all the honoured guests and particularly Hon’ble Dr. Justice A.R.Lakshmanan, Judge Supreme Court of India who had kindly consented to preside over the seminar. Speaking about the nobility of the legal profession, he said that lawyers act as healers of conflict just as doctors act as healers of pain. On the occasion he called for a mechanism by which the poor litigant can get services of best senior lawyers.
Thereafter, messages from His Excellency Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India, Hon’ble Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India and Hon’ble Justice Y.K.Sabharwal, Chief Justice of India were read out by Mr.K.S.Bhati, Treasurer, LAF, Ms. Ritu Bhardwaj, Executive member and Ms. Minakshi Sarma, Coordinator of the Seminar respectively.
Mr. Kuldip Nayar, Senior Columnist and Former Indian High Commissioner to UK was the first speaker said that lawyers must charge moderate fees and should also defend their clients fearlessly. He also suggested that professional charges by the members of the Bar should be brought under some kind of tabulation and checking. He stated that judiciary should prioritize the speedy disposal of public interest litigation cases and also suggested that law should be amended to prescribe qualifications for law makers.
Hon’ble Dr. H.R.Bhardwaj, Union Minister for Law and Justice have said that lawyer has duty towards the client as well as towards the court. He advised the lawyers not to go to the court unprepared and suggested the senior advocates should part with certain portion of their fees to their junior lawyers.
On this occasion, a book ‘Justice and the Underprivileged’ authored by Mr. P.I.Jose, Advocate Supreme Court and Secretary, LAF was released by Hon’ble Law Minister. The first copy of this book was handed over to Hon’ble Dr. Justice A.R.Lakshmanan, Judge Supreme Court of India.
Mr. Soli J. Sorabjee, Senior Advocate Supreme Court and Former Attorney General for India in his enlightening discourse, advised the lawyers to perform their duty fearlessly as a matter of social responsibility even if on certain occasions they have to fight cases without any payment. He said that there is an essential difference between business and legal profession and called upon the lawyers to uphold the noble traditions of the profession.
hereafter Hon’ble Dr. Justice Shivraj V. Patil, Member National Human Right Commission and Patron, LAF lauded the aims and objectives of the Forum and hoped that the Forum would serve the poor and the destitute sections of the society in legal matters.
Hon’ble Mr. Justice V.A.Mohta, Former Chief Justice, Orissa High Court presented a brief summary of the Articles submitted by the participants of the All India Law Students Competition and was extremely happy that would be lawyers had beautifully presented their views about the balancing factor between professional ambition and “social lawyering”. Justice Mohta then declared the following result of the All India Law Students Competition:
Winner
First Runners Up
Second Runners Up
i. M. Mahaboob Athiff,
ii. L. Vidyanathan
i. Upama Bhargava,
ii. Ranjana Chourasia
i. Seema Sharma
ii. Sangeeta Savant
School of Excellence in Law, Chennai
Dr. Hari Singh Gour Vishwavidyalya, Sagar, M.P.
Campus Law Centre, Faculty of Law, Delhi University
Hon’ble Dr. Justice A.R.Lakshmanan, Judge Supreme Court of India distributed the prizes. The best team received mementos, certificates and cash prize of Rs.5000/-, the first runners up received certificates and cash prize of Rs.3000/- while the second runners up received certificate and cash prize of Rs.2000/-. Participation certificate were given to all the participating teams.
Hon’ble Dr. Justice A.R.Lakshmanan in his presidential speech talked about important role of lawyers in the society and also put forth suggestions as to how organizations like Legal Assistance Forum can serve the society. He opined that fearlessness and service are part of our great Indian heritage. The judges who are the legal guardians and the lawyers who are officers of the court and legally entitled spokesperson of the community has great social responsibilities. He also said that the Forum by trying to conscientise the people of their social responsibility has taken up a laudable task and congratulated the entire Forum and wished them great success in this noble socially motivated venture.
Mr. M. Mahaboob Athiff and Mr. L. Vidyanathan of the winning team namely the School of Excellence in Law, Chennai made oral presentation and thanked Legal Assistance Forum for the opportunity given to them in the seminar.
Thereafter Mr. P.I.Jose, Secretary of Legal Assistance Forum delivered the vote of thanks. He assured the august gathering that the Forum would make all possible endeavor to fulfill its mission to resolve various socio-legal problems of the poor and underprivileged section of the society and promote legal awareness nationwide.
The other members of the Forum including Mr. Jagdev, Mr. Rakesh Bhattnagar, Mr. Anupam Mishra and Mr. Kanisk Gupta actively interacted with the honoured guests and took active part in making the seminar a huge success.
The seminar ended with High Tea and lots of hope for the coming future.
