Young Advocates Must Volunteer To Assist Poor Litigants; Must Break Misconception That Supreme Court Is Accessible Only To Wealthy : SC

In a recent judgment, the Supreme Court emphasised the importance of advocates rendering legal services to the needy, without caring for the monetary returns. The Court expressed its appreciation for a young advocate who rendered legal aid to a party-in-person.

The Court expressed that it was a "rare joy" to witness such a selfless service "amidst the rapid commercialization and competition which the legal profession has fallen prey to."

The Court stressed that a crucial aspect of the legal profession is "the role of advocates in taking up the responsibility of rendering assistance to both the court as well as the litigant, particularly those with limited means, and to collectively assist in ensuring that the litigant before a court has an assurance of having secured justice at the hands of the courts and particularly from the Apex Court."

A bench comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma made these observations while deciding a petition filed by a party-in-person for certain claims against a company. Since the party was finding it difficult to make submissions in English, the Court appointed Advocate Mr. Sanchar Anand as an amicus curiae for assistance. The amicus attended fourteen hearings of the case for over two years and helped in reaching a settlement. Although no fees was forthcoming, the Court noted that the amicus "dedicatedly" appeared in the matter and assisted in reaching a just and proper conclusion to this case.

The Court cited the services of Sanchar Anand as an example for the legal professionals, especially the younger bar.

"Young advocates joining the bar, must volunteer to assist the litigants who cannot engage the services of a counsel due to lack of means or awareness whenever an opportunity presents itself. Moreover, they should render the best legal assistance to the litigant without any expectation in return for their professional services. By these gestures of volunteering to represent indigent litigants, advocates can collectively make a statement to the society at large that the legal profession stands for the right to have access to justice and equality before law, not just in theory but in practice too. Such efforts of advocates, though in an individual capacity but acting towards a common objective of bringing an amicable quietus to the litigation, would send out a message that counsel are not hinderances in the process of parties reaching a mutually agreeable settlement, particularly in labour and matrimonial matters. They can also effectively play their parts in helping the parties end their disputes, and add positively to the alternate dispute mechanisms like mediation and conciliation. These are opportunities to make meaningful contributions to the society, and as a result the legal profession as a whole would gain the goodwill of the society in general and indigent litigants in particular."

The bench also cited the advice of Prof. Karen Thalacker in her book 'The New Lawyer's Handbook: 101 Things They Don't Teach You in Law School' :

“Serving others fills a hole in you that you might not even know you have. The discovery that you make is that even though you volunteer to show these organizations how important they are, the end result is that you get more than you ever give.”

Need to break the misconception that Supreme Court is accessible only for the wealthy

The bench stressed that persons from all classes, etc. who wish to approach the Supreme Court with their grievance must be provided with necessary assistance by the responsible members of the bar, without increasing the cost of litigation for the party or unnecessarily delaying the process.

"This is a welcome change from the trend being witnessed in our court rooms, where the litigants located in far corners of this country have to shell out humungous sums of money in the name of professional fees for engagement of top echelons of the legal profession, particularly when the matters do not progress on a particular day. In lieu of their expectations for the constitutionally guaranteed right to justice at the hands of this Court, they are often handed over a document that reads on top as 'Record of Proceedings' and which acts as a means of justifying the professional fees, without there being any substantial relief for the party concerned. The message that eventually spreads amongst the litigant public is that a hearing in this Court is available only to those who have the wherewithal and can withstand the financial pressure arising from their litigation apart from the uncertainty of the result and that the doors of justice may be inaccessible for others who can ill-afford to pay such high fees to lawyers.

We must reiterate that this misconception is required to be broken. The duty to provide ease of access to justice rests upon every member of the legal profession and the requisite message needs to be disseminated from the portals and corridors of this Court in the first instance in both letter and spirit. The enduring service of the learned amicus curiae in the present case is a poignant step in that direction."

The claims of the petitioner was settled with a paymnent of Rs 20 lakhs by the respondent. As a token of our appreciation of the services rendered by Sri Sanchar Anand, the Court requested the respondent(s) to pay a sum of Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One Lakh only) to him.

Case : SHANKAR LAL SHARMA vs RAJESH KOOLWAL & ORS | SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION (C) No.17157 OF 2022

Citation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 199

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