The Bar Council of India’s (BCI) legal education committee has sent a circular to national law university (NLU) vice chancellors (VCs) on 10 March 2019, recommending that NLUs do more to improve legal ethics in budding professionals.
Update 16:42: Happy April Fools’ Day all! As suspected by some, this story was totally fake news (though clearly not totally unbelievable).
The circular, the text of which has been shared with us, states:
It has come to the notice of the Bar Council of India that Professional Ethics and Conduct of advocates entering the profession has been lacking in recent times and detracting from the high standing of the profession and in the eyes of the Hon’ble Judges.
Accordingly, to embetter the legal education playing field and uplift Indian Values and Ethics at the Bar, the Council’s Legal Education Working Group has unanimously resolved that national law schools take the lead in this initiative and promote progress in the field of ethics and henceforth set up chairs and departments of legal ethics.
Students shall be incalculated in the Ethical Questions of the day, including also well-being of Mind, Ethics in Vedas and Spirituality.
It would be preferable if eminent persons of high standing in the field of ethics be appointed to chair positions, viz judges, senior members of the bar or luminaries in the fields of ethics, viz Sadhguru, Baba Ramdev or Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
One NLU vice chancellor, who requested to stay anonymous pending the implementation, welcomed the initiative, saying: “It is a good idea, education in ethics and our values has been lacking and we are working out the modalities.”
“The learning of the youth has become obsessed with the social media Instagram and Facebook and the Twitter,” he added.
The BCI’s move could be a reaction to Nalsar Hyderabad students’ heckling of influential yogi Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev when he gave a presentation in October of last year, which had attracted controversy, as well as condemnation from fans of Sadhguru.
It is not the first time the BCI has involved itself in the ethics at law schools, having in 2016 recommended that students wear “white shirt with trouser (white/black/grey)” after a controversy over student dress codes.
Hat-tip to a reader for sharing.
Comments
There are hordes of young brash and pompous students who think that they have achieved or attained Nirvana by merely getting into good law colleges or law firms.
Merely donning a suit or getting a handsome package or speaking good English is not achievement. Being content, calm and 'trying' to do good is achievement. Raising a family, and instilling in them values, is achievement.
I don't follow Sadhguru religiously - maybe I ought to, I don't know. However, this man has dedicated is life to spiritualism, you should have respect. Would you all have spoken the same way if he was an eminent Senior Advocate or a jurist of the Apex Court.
Merely because he has not walked your path does not mean that he can or should be walked over.
You would be running for your clients - run for your sense of being.
Listen to the music before the song is over.
Accept rather than expect. Live rather than exist.
Regards
A well wisher - a person who is trying to learn - pray for me :)
It is now a trend to convert any logical issue into an sentimental nationalism issue.
Sadhguru incident at NALSAR where students question him is very welcome. What was he peddling has to be questioned. The students did that well. Question should be asked at IITs or IIMs if they didn't ! His statements on many topics like JNU types be "taken off the street" or views on women's issues are reprehensible. In the West, universities are the places where difficult questions are asked, students are trained to question. Socratic method in law schools is supposed to do that. But here consensus is to follow Babaji and not question him.
Achhe Din have arrived for Indian law, too soon I suspect.
My personal suspicion is that Sadhguru disciples have a Google alert set up for his name and Nalsar and jumped on this thread immediately to register their delight at the BCI's (April foolish) move :)
Do you have any idea of Indian culture? How our shastras spoke of international law before the West? Hopefully you will learn something useful now.
#meinbhifoolish
https://twitter.com/nlud_solidarity/status/1111285015264919552