KILL THE MAN : HE IS A LAWYER

..The first thing we should do is kill all Lawyers .

Shakespeare, HENRY VI

The issue of Mr. M.K. Damodaran Snr. Advocate who has been appointed as
the Legal Advisor to the Chief Minister of Kerala , appearing for Mr. Santiago
Martin, an accused in Lottery scam case has hit the head line of the media in
the state . Mr. Damodaran has been brutally attacked by the media and the
opposition in this regard . Come on .. Lets kill the Legal Advisor to the CM..
The scenario envisages a critical analysis
on the
legality of such
appearances viz a viz the appointment . What is it in law that prohibit such
appearances ? The lawyer is supposed to act to protect the interests of his
clients and in the event to disclose the client his chance of having conflict of
interests. As per Section 29 of the Advocates Act and Section II of Chapter II
of the Bar Council of India rules a lawyer is bound to accept a brief where
the client is able to pay the fee and no conflict of interest or other reasonable
justification exists , but the lawyer is bound to not accept brief where there
is a conflict of interest with the client unless a frank disclosure has been
made to the client about such conflict. Thirdly a lawyer is duty bound To not
withdraw from an engagement except with sufficient cause and reasonable
notice
and
to
refund
unearned
fee
upon
such
withdrawal.
It is very well known that Mr. Damodaran has been a renowned Criminal
Lawyer and has been defending many of the accused mainly in political
crimes. He has also been defending and planning legal strategies for them .
It is note worthy here to mention that there had been news that Mr.
Damodaran @ MKD as he is known in the courts was the hottest contender
to the post of the Advocate General of Kerala ,a Constitutional Post . He
declined the same may be for 2 reasons (i) His commitment to the clients
and the difficulty that would have been brought to the clients in case of
change of counsel apart from the otherwise financial burden that it would
have brought while returning the fee though in fairness I may have to say
nobody would have asked him the same , he had an obligation to return it if
in case he could not contest the cases (ii) He is not as healthy as he was
when he was serving as the Advocate General during the Nayanar Ministry .

Pinarayi Vijayan , a master administrator , nevertheless is not as diplomatic

as a congress man, nor has he any inclination in building Public Relations .
His mannerisms though seems to be dictatorial ,
is what you may call
straight forward and transparent. In such an event he may like to have an
advisor to himself , even while consulting the Advocate General of the State
regarding legal and Constitutional issues . SO what if the Chief Minister
consults a lawyer better in his personal opinion , on legal issues , whose
services unfortunately could not be obtained for the state for more than one
reason. Is not the same good for the state ?
It is not out of any bodys knowledge , if we are to believe the media that
there are factions in the party and the same are pulling against each other .
In such an event , the allegation which naturally could not be pointed to the
C.M. , may travel against his aides. Can a lawyer , with tremendous
experience and flair , be immature enough to be afraid of the allegations and
keep himself oblivious of the professional obligations he owe to the society
and the clients ? The answer necessarily has to be in the negative . For every
lawyer has an obligation to the client as well as the Court and the courts
have to necessarily arrive at judicial conclusions in the matter , being
assisted by the lawyers . Every citizen in the country by virtue of Part III of
the Constitution of India is guaranteed the bet legal advice and defence he
could afford . The more balance we achieve as regards these rights , which
travel against each other , the more civilized the society may become .
So what if he appears in matters in which states interests are involved? Till
this point of time he has not appeared and secondly having anticipated this ,
MKD has taken a decision not to accept any remuneration for the post . But
then why should there be post at all ? A pertinent question being mooted
from all corners. The sanctity and the authoritativeness which the legal
opinion assumes is much more when compared to the legal opinion of any
other person. Hence the post . In as much as AG is concerned he is the head
of the Legal Affairs in the state . There may be cases in which the CM on his
own personal behalf need to consult a lawyer without consulting the AG who
stands on behalf of the People of the state, who may have slightly different
interst to be protect
. In such event with out creating a social or
Constitutional embargo the CM may need to get proper legal advise from the
proper authority , which could be executed by this appointment . Any
assumption that the AGs office would be eclipsed by MKDs office is an
unrealistic dream but practically difficult to achieve . Ther are few reasons
for it . The AG is a very competent person and nobody doubts his
competence and He had ably defended the State , though many a times

being led by advocate from Supreme Court , during the last Tenure of the VS
led LDF Government . But the continuity of the Supreme Court lawyers
leading the state was also an order during the UDF Government .Secondly
that having seen how MKDs office work or for that matter any other Senior
Criminal lawyers office like Mr. Raman Pillais or Mr. VIjaya Bhanus office , it is
unimaginable that they would be having time and interest to eclipse the
AGs office functioning with out any remuneration at all. This is said having
accepted to myself that the public belief is that all criminal lawyers are
greedy of money and no paper moves in their office with out huge piles of
Cash being piled in to the chambers . Not many know Criminal lawyers do lot
of pro-bono works , in the vent of getting acquittals for the deserving and at
times for the huge population of undeserving as well for the want of
sufficient materials and evidence being adduced by the prosecution. Day in
and day out their hard work , in the court rather than bluffing in the Media
and the Public platforms put the Courts to think thus pulling up the lacunae
in the current system of law to rectify the mistake which the current system
of law has legislated for us . If the lawyers forget their prime duty of
interpreting the law and striking off those which are violatiive of the very
Basic Structure of the Constitution, then I am afraid that system in itself
would crumble and there would be entire chaos . Lawyers have to be
watchdog against tyranny . And if you say the CM is tyrant , then that is all
the more a better reason to have an experience Lawyer as his advisor .
For all the men in the mob may say mimicking DICK the Butcher who
declares to the other Conspirators against Democracy The first Thing we
DO , Kill ALL the Lawyers , but it would only be democracy who may plead
DO not kill the Lawyers ..and we could say Lets not kill the Lawyer in the
Man he is .. for the C.M. may be Supreme but not infallible, he also needs to
be advised..