1. What was your journey like in the initial years when you started working? Did the pressure of being Mr. Shanti Bhushan’s son keep you on your toes?
My entire life and particularly my educational journey has been very unconventional. I studied engineering, economics, philosophy of science, and then law. I became a lawyer several years after my contemporaries had entered the profession since I was studying philosophy of science at Princeton.
Early on in the profession, I got interested in and involved in public interest litigation on environmental issues and then civil liberties, corruption, and accountability, etc. There was therefore never any pressure on me to follow the lead of my father who was at that time a big corporate lawyer.
I was happy doing largely public interest law and my areas of interest in that field kept expanding to cover all kinds of social action litigation on behalf of poor and marginalized groups like street vendors, slum dwellers, rickshaw pullers, etc. Also fortunately for me, I was financially comfortable since I lived with my father and shared office space and staff with him and therefore did not have to worry about money for being comfortable.
2.What is a typical day in your life like?
A typical day when the court is in session would start with some yoga and newspapers with tea. Much of the day would then be at court with cases and conferences. During the day I do spend a fair amount of time on my social media and it often involves a few interviews with different media/law/civil liberties portals and organizations. In the evening I usually spend some time chatting with friends and family and often watch a little television, very selected news broadcasts or movies.
3. What according to you is the reason that Indian students lag at writing research papers at the global level, what is the role of Indian universities in it?
In India, the standards of academic rigor are very lax compared to some good international universities. There is also a culture of memorizing information by rote which often leads to plagiarism and copy-pasting. The originality of thought and thinking from first principles is not encouraged.
In fact, most lawyers even those considered good are, are known as case law lawyers who when confronted with a legal problem start looking for cases in which that kind of problem was dealt with rather than thinking of a reasonable, rational, and equitable solution themselves.
4. What as per your experience is the reason behind the association of the legal system and politics. How can a young lawyer survive between already existing ties and make connections of his own?
Though the law is a fairly nepotistic profession in as much as lawyers with powerful legal lineage, get a huge advantage in establishing themselves, yet it is always possible for bright eager, and enthusiastic young lawyers, to make a mark and establish themselves in the profession. Writing high-quality legal briefs and clarity of arguments are usually noted and favorably commented upon by judges as well as senior lawyers.
Law and politics have been somewhat related from the time of the independence struggle since politics often involves legal negotiation. My father was chosen by Jai Prakash as one of the four people to put together a unified opposition party (Janta Party) because of his legal acumen in being able to formulate a viable legal document for their merger. Also politics and politicians especially today often need to deal with the courts for resolving political issues involving human rights election, etc, through the law.
5. The BCI has once again started the All India Bar Exam, what are your views on it?
Though the BCI is not a very credible body to conduct any exam, I feel there should be an All India Bar Exam for enrolling lawyers, which should test for basic common sense, basic principles of law, and the Constitution. it should not be an elaborate exam testing people for detailed knowledge of various provisions of law. The unfortunate fact is that in India people can acquire law degrees from several universities without any understanding of the law.
6. Were you ever fascinated by corporates? What would be your message to lawyers who find themselves stuck in the corporate world?
Though I was never fascinated by corporates or corporate law, yet I understand the desire for and need of many lawyers to be involved in corporate law since that is where big money is. Though there is nothing intrinsically wrong in doing corporate law, but all lawyers should understand that apart from making money, they have a social responsibility too and they are supposed to be civilized warriors of justice.
Thus, apart from not indulging in sharp practices on behalf of their clients, they need to keep their eyes and ears open to all the injustices that we see around us and do their bit to make the world a more just and fair place. Also, with the judicial system being so decrepit and dysfunctional, it is also the duty of every lawyer to raise his voice for reforms in the judicial system.
7. Does media trial affect your work and in what way? How you cope with it?
Media trials unfortunately are a reality with TRP-hungry and agenda-driven media. However, the solution to this problem is not to prevent the media from reporting ongoing cases but to make it clear to them that false reporting will be penalized and that some information from an anonymous source, even police source which is defamatory, will also be penalized unless it is backed by credible evidence. I have rarely faced media trials myself in my work but I have certainly seen this happening a lot.
8. A newbie or a lower court lawyer finds working in the supreme court very glamorous, would you share some insights about the reality of working in the supreme court?
The world of law and the courts, including the Supreme Court, is a rough and competitive space and as I've often said, a space for the strong-hearted. Days are long and cases stretch on. There is a lot of time that is wasted, waiting for your case to be taken up. Often there is aggression and a lack of cordiality in arguments. Working in such an environment needs you to be strong and often develop a thick skin to face tough opposition.
Prashant Bhushan is a senior public interest advocate and human rights, activist. He has been a relentless crusader for the ri
Interviewed By - Gagan Deep
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