I have now spent nearly three and a half decades, attired in a black coat and white band and one thing I have confirmed, along the way is that, law is a thankless profession. Somehow, lawyers are looked upon with suspicion and are the butt of abuse and ridicule, with rarely a good word in their favour. But, the same despicable lawyer becomes most admirable the moment there is a policeman’s knock, on the door of the critic.
In my early years lawyers were informally categorised, into those holding the ‘carta’ of the Portuguese era and those holding LLB degrees. The former, could be easily distinguished as they were older, were generally cautious, careful, meticulous and dignified, qualities imbibed from the colonial masters.
The South Goa Bar had a reputation for standing up to the judges, so much so, many a judge preferred not to be posted in Margao. I can positively recall that lawyers on the criminal side looked upon investigating officers not so much as opponents, but virtually as enemies and waiting to undress them in the witness box. There was no fraternisation between the black coat and khaki.
The old era gradually came to a close, towards the end of the last century, of the last millennium. Today, there is a section of the bar which has made the police station its office. The collusion between the policeman and this section of lawyers is open and almost official. The moment an offence is registered, the police assess the accused, and a particular lawyer, is recommended. No accused while in custody, dare demur. Once the deal is struck, the investigation also takes a particular predetermined course. And most of these lawyers and policemen are seen fraternising at their personal functions. The Indianisation of Goan lawyers is complete. Match-fixing is more common at the police station, than on the cricket field!
People in general come to the court, looking for justice, little knowing that what we have are essentially courts of law and not courts of justice. Our courts are created to take the facts, placed before them, apply the law and give findings. In short, if evidence placed before a court shows that white is black then a court has to conclude that white is black. And this is precisely what happens in most cases. No court is equipped to deliver justice in the real sense and more so when match fixing is rampant.
The oft repeated complaint against lawyers is of charging extortionate fees, although now a days, doctors are working hard to knock the lawyer off this dubious perch. A lawyer, it has to be remembered does not charge for work done. A lawyer is paid not so much for what he does, but for what he knows or presumed to know (even though sometimes he may know little).
Among the incidents that remains fixed in memory is one that pertains to an old lady who comes over to me in Court and says “Look (pointing towards the judge) he is sitting there and does not know what he is talking. He says one thing but does the opposite. He is double faced perhaps influenced by the three faced “someone” placed above him (pointing towards the national emblem). In the old days, there was only a statue of a lady with a blindfold holding scales. Those days are gone forever. What justice can one get?” For a new lawyer, it was disconcerting that a citizen had so little confidence in the judicial process.
In those days, law was completely a male bastion. There were handful of females who joined the profession and unless married to lawyers soon disappeared. Many have joined the judiciary or the civil services. Successful senior female lawyers may be counted on the toes of one foot. Of course, this is not to belittle females in the profession and I can certainly point to a few who have done well. But if I name them, I may have to face the fury of the unnamed ones!
Some years ago, I was witness to a litigant pointing towards large number of females in white, cackling in the court premises and proclaim “look at the chicks, the court has become a poultry farm”! No longer so. The younger breed of lawyers now, have caught on and are emerging at the top. There is one in particular, who is doing pretty well. She is not married to a lawyer but her mother is married to one. I cannot name her either. I would be accused of nepotism. There are one or two others too. They and their mothers are married to lawyers too! And there are a few others who should be doing well if they hang on.
Despite public dislike, law is a satisfactory profession. As you grow older you meet innumerable persons who are grateful for the legal assistance rendered in their time of distress but the story of what happens to a lawyer after death makes the profession even more attractive.
It seems that the fence separating heaven and hell had extensively corroded and the devil had been doing to heaven what the Chinese are doing on our northern borders. So, a high level meeting was called to amicably settle the boundary dispute. The problem remained intractable after several rounds of discussions. Finally, in exasperation St.Peter said “Forget it, let us move the court”, to which the devil retorted “where will you find the lawyers?”
Undeterred, St.Peter immediately called a meeting and directed that the best lawyer be engaged to file the suit. No matter how hard the angels tried no lawyer could be found in heaven. The matter was placed before St.Peter, who then and there issued a decree “hereafter all lawyers shall be admitted to heaven without any interview”. And so it happens that the sanad to practice law has also become a passport to heaven!
(Radharao F.Gracias is a senior Trial Court Advocate)
