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High time for reforms in Bar Council

Hemant Kumar’s article (Perspective, Sept 13) rightly points out that there is need to inculcate suitable reforms in the Bar Council’s composition so that it can give relief to victims of legal professional delinquency. The aggrieved victims may be the advocate’s own client or a person from opposite side.

High standard of professional ethics and service to humanity is required not only qua advocate’s own client but also qua opposite party. An advocate being an officer of the court should not indulge in such practices as to falsely implicate the opposite party or to frame him in the frivolous case in such a manner as to bring him to disrepute which amounts to mental and monetary torture also.

Saving your own house from fire does not mean that you put other’s house on fire or you divert the flow of water in such a manner that other’s house is flooded.

As a retired Senior Deputy Advocate General of Punjab, I am shocked to notice the corrupt practices and the fall of ethical standards among lawyers especially at the lower level. It has very rightly been pointed out that it is time to initiate reforms which won’t be possible without the Bar’s active and whole-hearted support.

It needs a special mention here that the Punjab and Haryana High Court has recently set a very healthy precedent by imposing exemplary fine for pursuing frivolous litigation.

Dr SUKHCHARAN KAUR BHATIA
Sr Dy AG (Pb) (retd), Chandigarh

Anti-heroes

“Villainwise” by M.L. Dhawan (Spectrum, Aug 23) was interesting. Shah Rukh Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan were not the only heroes who have made a mask with negative roles, but many yesteryear superstars have also excelled in this field.

Dharmendra played an anti-social element in blockbuster Phool aur Pathar opposite Meena Kumari and a dacoit in Pathar aur Paayal. Vinod Kumar and Shatrughan Sinha started their film career as villains. Vinod Khanna and Shatrughan Sinha played hardcore dacoits in Mera Gaon Mera Desh and Heera, respectively.

Sunil Dutt played a dacoit in superhit Mujhe Jeene Do and an underworld don in Geeta Mera Naam. Raj Kumar did justice to the character of a spoilt zamidaar in Kudrat who murders Hema Malini out of lust. It was Insaaf Ka Tarazoo that catapulted Raj Babbar to instant fame, in which he played the role of a rich sex maniac.n

HARBANS SINGH, Ambala Cantonment

The tangled web of Partition Anita Inder Singh’s article on Partition (Perspective, Sept 6) was descriptive. The real peers of Partition were Linlithgow, Wavell, Churchill, Cripps and, of course, Jinnah. Gandhiji sought Sir Sikander Hyat Khan’s help to contain the evil influence of Jinnah among the Muslims. But the Viceroy sternly dissuaded Khan not to embarrass Jinnah. He snubbed the Madras Governor for allowing Khan to meet Rajaji in jail to bring about a rapprochement between the Congress and the Muslim League. Wavell was ill-disposed towards Congress leaders. He always strengthened Jinnah’s hands to embarrass the Congress leaders. Cripps had initially (April 1942) assured Azad that England would grant independence to India after the war. But Wavell and Churchill pressurised Cripps to retract. Churchill was always against grant of more powers to Indians. He had delayed the passage of India Act of 1935 by three years. There was no hope for Independence so long as he was the Prime Minister. The silver lining in the dark clouds appeared when Lord Attlee became the Prime Minister. He preferred a unified India as Pakistan as a nation was not economically viable. But Churchill wanted Jinnah to stuck to his demand for Pakistan. He told Wavell, “Let India be divided into Hindustan, Pakistan and Princistan. Keep a bit of India for us also.” Cripps was responsible for Pakistan’s birth. Jinnah was pinning for it because he knew that he could never become prime minister in united India. Mountbatten told Sardar Patel that he would like to offer only the moth-eaten Pakistan to Jinnah. In exchange, he would give full cooperation for the integration of 550 princely states into India. He also advised that India short of Pakistan with a strong Centre would be more viable than a very loosely Unified India under the Cabinet Mission Plan. He was right and Patel agreed. Nehru was initially aghast at Mountbatten’s Partition plan but V.K. Krishna Menon prevailed upon him. Finally, both the CWC and the AICC approved the Partition plan and India became free on August 15, 1947. It is very strange that Jaswant Singh is advising us to respect Jinnah and denigrate Nehru and Patel. Partition was a geographical and historical necessity. The need of the hour is not to ruminate over the past but to bring India and Pakistan closer. RAM NIWAS MALIK, Gurgaon