Supreme Court Justice BV Nagarathna on Saturday stressed that the independence of the Bar was essential to a constitutional democracy and urged lawyers to guard it. She also called upon Bar Councils, whether at the Central or State level, to introspect on their role and importance in upholding professional ethics, morality and professional competence.

“The Bar in India must re-think about its usefulness to the litigant public, its role in safeguarding our democracy and in upholding the majesty of courts of law and its indispensability in upholding justice and rule of law. The Bar Councils, whether the Central or the States, must introspect on their role and importance in upholding professional ethics, morality and professional competence. When a Bar Council does not earn the respect of its members, it is not a good sign for the legal profession,” she said.

Justice Nagarathna's comments assume significance in the wake of the recent controversies surrounding the Bar Council of India Chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra, whose comments against student protests and orders against NALSAR students drew huge backlash from the legal community. Following that, demands for Mishra's resignation have been growing, and petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court challenging his tenure and seeking scrutiny of the Bar Council's functioning.

Addressing the 13th Convocation of National Law University, Delhi, Justice Nagarathna said the independence of the Bar was not an entitlement given to lawyers for their own benefit. It existed because a constitutional democracy required a body of professionals who could advise, argue, challenge and represent without having to seek permission from the State, the market or even their clients.

“Lawyers are safety valves of democracies. So do not allow the pursuit of a successful career to make you forget what makes your profession worth preserving in the first place. Guard its independence. Earn its trust”, she said.

Justice Nagarathna said the Bar must rethink its usefulness to the litigant public, its role in safeguarding democracy and its responsibility in upholding the majesty of courts, justice and the rule of law.

She highlighted that the legal system in India was bogged down by pendency, delays, rising costs and uncertainty, and emphasised that the Bar must rise and speak in a singular voice on how it could sustain the system of justice dispensation.

Justice Nagarathna recalled that members of the legal profession had played an important role in the national movement and in the making of the Constitution. She said the time had come for individual members of the Bar and the Bar as a collective body to introspect on their duties towards distressed litigants and sustaining democracy.

“The lawyers of this country are the torch bearers of the values of our Constitution,” she said, adding that any lapse or error by the Bar would have a deep impact on the political and civic life of the country.

She urged lawyers to change their mindset and work for their clients as a public service. She said the legal profession was not merely an occupation or trade but an “office of trust”.

Addressing the graduating students, Justice Nagarathna said a lawyer's duty was not exhausted by the terms of an engagement or the instructions of a client. A client might instruct a lawyer, but there could be occasions when the lawyer would have to tell the client that the proposed course of action was unwise, legally untenable and neither in the client's interests nor in the interests of the rule of law.

She said lawyers acted for clients but worked within institutions that belonged to the public at large. Their duty, therefore, ran in two directions – towards the person who had entrusted them with a cause and towards the institution within which they pursued it.

Justice Nagarathna also spoke about the changing nature of the legal profession and gave advice to young lawyers entering practice.

She said the market was likely to become more competitive and technology would change the nature of legal work. Routine research and drafting would become faster and information would become cheaper. As a result, the premium on merely knowing things would decline. However, she said the premium on judgment would remain intact.

She said young lawyers must learn to look at the whole dispute and not merely the legal proposition involved. They must be able to decide whether a dispute should be litigated, whether the parties should negotiate before filing a suit, what could be conceded without compromising the client's interests, what the other side wanted and when to push and when to stop pushing.

Justice Nagarathna advised young lawyers to learn to negotiate, draft settlements and understand how arbitral proceedings actually work rather than merely memorizing the statutory provisions governing them. She also asked them to sit in on mediations and observe how good lawyers negotiate, including what they say and what they do not say.

She also cautioned lawyers appearing before courts against relying on fake judgments generated through artificial intelligence.

“If arguing before a Court of Law, ensure that fake judgments obtained through AI are not cited. Don't fall prey to hallucination,” she said.

Justice Nagarathna also emphasised on the importance of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). She said there had been a discernible shift from traditional litigation towards alternative mechanisms, although litigation remained authoritative and courts remained the cornerstone of the justice system.

She said litigation faced procedural complexity, delay, costs and its inherently adversarial character. Arbitration, mediation and conciliation were therefore increasingly becoming components of the justice system.

Justice Nagarathna said lawyers must understand not merely what ADR mechanisms were, but when they were useful. She said the timing of mediation was crucial and referred to the possibility of mediation in proceedings pending before the Tribunal under the Companies Act, particularly in disputes involving a breakdown of trust or ego clashes, such as majority-minority shareholder disputes.

She also referred to the Arb-Med-Arb model, under which arbitration can be commenced to secure jurisdiction and procedural certainty, after which proceedings can be paused for mediation. If mediation succeeds, the settlement can be recorded in the arbitral process. If mediation fails, arbitration resumes and results in a binding decision.

Justice Nagarathna said the modern lawyer was increasingly valued not merely for knowing the law but for being able to solve problems.

She told the graduating students that they were leaving NLU Delhi as “Officers of the Court and Stewards of the Constitution” and urged them to use their knowledge and judgment in the service of the rule of law.