LEX INSIGHT

Tomorrow, as the Bar Council of Kerala goes to the polls, I find myself wrestling with a familiar professional delimma—not one of statutes, but of choice. In our preferential system, we have the power to cast 25 preference votes, yet every candidate is chasing that elusive "First Preference." For a voter, this creates a significant burden of accommodation. How do you rank your favorites when the list is long and the stakes for our profession are so high? This year, my own priority list has undergone an unexpected revision. I’ll be candid: Mr. Yeshwanth Shenoy did not originally find a place in my top preferences. Our history is well-known to those in the High Court; when he ran for President of the Kerala High Court Advocates’ Association, for the third time, I was perhaps his deepest critic. He lost that election, but I do not believe he was a meritless candidate; it was simply a case of a more meritorious candidate winning the day. However, when it comes to the Bar Council,...

We have recently welcomed a new intern, Mr. Ayman Ziyad. He is currently awaiting univeristy to publish his results and the Bar Council of Kerala’s election of new members and the announcement of the next enrollment schedule, hoping to be admitted as an advocate in the near future. Interestingly, from the day he joined law school, he maintained a backup plan: to shoulder the responsibilities of his family business. It is by sheer coincidence that he became part of the core research team at the Project Complete Lawyer (PCL) Foundation, where we are researching and preparing a protocol for training undergraduates and fresh graduates. A question that immediately arises is: what is the role of a young law student in the preparation of a training manual? Is this not traditionally the domain of law scholars, legal practitioners, or seasoned professionals? Whenever this question is asked, we categorically emphasize a vital point: if the protocol is designed to train undergraduates, then Ayman...

  The judicial and academic calendars clash every year. April and May mark the mid-summer vacation, during which the High Court and the civil courts across the state transition into "vacation mode." Under the High Court Act, vacation sittings are typically limited to two days a week, with only a few benches convened to hear extremely urgent matters. This period corresponds exactly with academic vacations, when regular classes at law universities and colleges are suspended. While students are required to complete their mandatory internships during this break, this "Big Bang" collision of schedules puts those choosing the High Court of Kerala at a significant disadvantage. By the time students begin their month-long break, the courts have already moved into the standby mode mentioned above, depriving them of the full experience of a functioning court. This year, the victims of this calendar confusion were three young interns from the MCT College of Legal Studies, Mel...

  The Missing Rung: A Three-Decade War for ₹500 How important is a client in the life of a lawyer? The obvious answer is "very." However, certain clients represent more than just our "bread and butter." They are the catalysts who can completely reshape a professional profile, teaching us lessons never found in a standard practice curriculum. Without further preamble, let me introduce Mr. Uthama Kurup. A retired officer of the Indian Navy, he arrived not just as an individual, but as the apparent leader of a group of technical supervisors from a naval department. Mr. Kurup has spent decades fighting to rectify a pay fixation anomaly affecting technical supervisory staff in the naval dockyards and ship repair yards. The official battle began in 2003; it has now reached its twenty-third year. While Mr. Kurup has secured several tactical victories in court, the "war" itself remains won. I joined this campaign in 2013, and the ensuing thirteen-year journey has ...