"Park your Morality outside when practising Law" : Justice Gautam Patel

Legal News by - ANIRUDDH SHARMA (This News was written by him during his Internship) Former Bombay High Court judge Justice Gautam Patel recently said Lawyers should set aside personal morals and biases when representing clients no matter how unpopular the cause. Justice Patel observed that law is the only profession that makes the demanding requisition of hearing the other side, all the other professions allow for agreements to be reached without necessarily listening to the opposing party.

“It’s the only profession that does it. Hear the other side and then judge. That’s a very difficult business. This is where your skills as a lawyer come into play, and this is also the area where ethics come into play,” he said. On July 13th, Justice Patel gave a speech titled “Introduction to Law” during the Master Lecture Series held at DM Harish College of Law, HSNC University, Mumbai. He then asked a group of students if they would take a very unpopular case such as that of Ajmal Kasab.

Justice Patel was disappointed when a student told him that due to personal beliefs, they would not take up the case. For every person who appears in court, there should be a defence attorney who leaves out moral judgments, he stressed. “Okay, this is the problem. Park your morality outside when you are practising law. If you are a lawyer, you are not a judge. You don’t get to bring your morality into the picture. Every person—because this is the foundation of the justice system and the rule of law—is entitled to a defence. And yes, he is entitled to your defence if you’re the best there is and he or she comes to you. You do not prejudge that cause. That is not a lawyer’s job. The judge decides guilt or innocence,” he said.

The ex-high court judge of Bombay was delivering a lecture among the master lecture series on introduction to law at DM Harish School of Law within HSNC University in Mumbai. In addition, he inquired of students what they would do were their client to confess to a crime yet insist on pleading innocent, adding that never must ask a defendant in a criminal case if he or she has committed the offence.

“The only question you ask is—how do you want to plead? What are your instructions to me? You want to plead guilty or not guilty?” he said. Justice Patel sensationally stressed that once a client accepts to have committed a wrong but still wants the legal practitioner to deny it on his or her behalf, it amounts to the attorney coiling up in the face of the court, and that is pure perjury. Justice Patel stated “You don’t get to do that. Because this is the mix and the complexity of practising law. You have a duty to your client but you are also an officer of the court, and your primary duty is to assist the court. You cannot lie to a court,”

“Most importantly, you are not judging whether your client is or is not guilty because that, as I said, is not your job. It is the job of the judge and only the judge,” he added. He emphasised that if a client only tells you how they would like to plead, you only translate to the court what the client wants their plea to be, without deceiving the court."

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