Lawyers find true meaning when clients receive justice: NHRC chairperson

Justice V. Ramasubramanian, chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission and a former judge of the Supreme Court, on Sunday stated that providing justice to the poor and the distressed is the fundamental duty of the legal profession. If a client smiles with satisfaction after receiving justice through a lawyer’s efforts, the lawyer’s professional life becomes truly meaningful, he added.

He was speaking after inaugurating the first zonal workshop, titled ‘From Classroom to Courtroom – Law Students as Catalysts for Social Justice’, held at Manasagangotri here. The workshop was organised by Karnataka State Legal Services Authority, Karnataka State Law University (Hubballi), State Bank of India, Canara Bank and Punjab National Bank.

Justice Subramanian said the workshop would remain a valuable experience in the professional lives of law students.

Sharing experiences from his student days, he said many of his friends who earned high marks became doctors and engineers. However, he chose to study law and later became a judge. Had he become a doctor or engineer, he might have earned around ₹20,000 per month initially, but as a judge, he earned about ₹1 lakh from the very beginning. He emphasised that the legal profession also offers good opportunities and income.

However, money alone does not provide complete satisfaction, he said, adding that true fulfilment comes when a client smiles after receiving justice. In England, a law enacted in 1930 introduced provisions for providing free legal aid to the public. In India, free legal services have been provided to the poor and the distressed since 1987 through the Legal Services Authorities, he added.

Justice Anu Shivaraman, Judge of the Karnataka High Court, said the workshop would be extremely valuable for students aspiring to become lawyers. The programme would help them understand how to organise legal aid camps and clinics. With the cooperation of 13 law colleges in the Mysuru region, legal aid camps are being organised in 29 villages, she added.

Shashidhar Shetty, member secretary of the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority, said the authority was established in 1987 to ensure access to justice for all and added that everyone must receive justice on time.

Mr. Shetty urged law students to participate actively in programmes organised by the authority. Karnataka has 155 law colleges, and the authority is working towards creating legal awareness in rural areas, he added.

Prof. Lokanath, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mysore, and Prof. C. Basavaraju, Vice-Chancellor of Karnataka State Law University, also spoke.

Senior Civil Judge and member secretary of the Legal Services Authority K.K. Amarnath, High Court advocate Sridhar Prabhu, along with principals, lecturers and students from various law colleges, were present.