New Delhi: In a major statement, Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud on Saturday (January 21) said that there are many barriers to accessing legal education and entering the legal profession. He said that cracking the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) was an example of such a hurdle. CJI Chandrachud said that CLAT can be cracked only by those students who have access to good English medium schools.
CJI said that 'Only those people can crack CLAT, who have access to English schools and good schools. Have access to the legal profession? We are putting up obstacles.' The CJI was addressing a function in Mumbai where he was honored by the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa. During this, the CJI advocated live-streaming of court proceedings. He said that this would help law students who do not have good professors. CJI Chandrachud has said, 'The reason why I have been told why we should not do live streaming is because the lawyers will be involved in the theatrics. I'm not that cynical. There will definitely be drama. But, there is also a reason that there will be access to knowledge of the law, which does not have good professors in schools. They can look at any matter and there can be a discussion in the class.
CJI Chandrachud further said that I am always asked why should we pay so much fees. He said that 'one must recognize the value of an intern or a lawyer. We should look to young people as individuals who will make valuable contributions to insight. We cannot have a democratized bar until we start paying juniors. The CJI emphasized what young lawyers can bring to the table during court proceedings, including enabling judges to understand the thought process of young lawyers at the Bar.
The CJI further said, 'I always encourage junior lawyers to refer cases in my court. Over tea, I was asked why I do this. I had 60 cases and it has increased to 110. I was asked why to waste time on such things when one could be engaged in other work. But, I believe that the pulse of the country is known from the junior lawyers.'
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