This interview has been published by and
As an Advocate-On-Record (AOR) and with over a decade of experience in the field of law, what initially inspired you to pursue a career in law, and how did your passion for the legal field evolve over the years?
Honestly speaking, it was destined for me to become a lawyer! I had been a Civil Services aspirant after my Graduation and had also reached till the Interview stage the Civil Services Exam (CSE) conducted by UPSC. In 2005 I joined Law Centre-II (at that time evening classes at Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College) of the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, Delhi during the later period of my CSE preparations. However, in the same year I once again cleared the Prelims and had to write my UPSC Mains and the dates coincided with my First Semester Law exams and I had to make a choice. I chose the UPSC Mains over the law exam and so did not attend the law classes resulting in shortage of attendance and my not being able to fill the form and appearing in the exams.
Later on in 2009, I again joined the Faculty of Law, but this time the Campus Law Centre (CLC), Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, Delhi.
Coming from a relatively small city i.e., Gorakhpur (UP), I, for the first time, realised during my preparation period in Delhi that law is just not only a respectable career option, but also Delhi is the best place for anyone who has no other support system/ a first generation lawyer, apart from her/his own hard work and competence.
Also, from the college days, my friends used to tell me that I was good at communication- both oral as well as written, and once my attempts at CSE were over in 2006, I was faced with a grim situation and I was required to find a career option, where I could utilise my strengths to support my choice of career. And at this time law as a carrier option looked to me as the best career option, looking at my ability to study for long hours (honed during my CSE preparation days) and a good communication skills, especially in English, and having my earlier small brush with the study of law made the decision to pursue law as a career option a forgone conclusion.
In the early stages of your career, you worked with trial court seniors and also managed your independent practice, handling cases across all the three tiers of the courts in Delhi-trial, High Court and the Supreme Court of India. What were the most valuable lessons you learned during this phase that helped shape your career path?
In my 2nd year at the CLC became the Student Convenor of the Seminar & Discussion Society of the CLC, apart from being one of the Student Editors of the Delhi Law Review (DLR), the renowned Journal published by the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, Delhi, and I was also one of the Student Convenors of the Legal Aid Society of CLC. This gave me enough exposure and opportunity to meet and initiate an informal conversation with some of legal legends and top jurists of the country. It was during those discussions and interactions, I realised that being a first generation lawyer, I must know the basics and go for an organic growth and progression in my career- from trial works to appellate works. When all my Batchmates were planning to join some of the top lawyers and chambers in the Supreme Court and the High Court, I was searching for a good trial court senior, by the time I completed my course.
Building a career in litigation can be challenging, especially as a defense lawyer dealing with white-collar crimes. What were the initial obstacles you faced, and how did you navigate and overcome them to establish yourself in this competitive field?
Usually in any case involving allegations of a white collar crime, the accused is a well to do person having all the facilities, including a battery of lawyers. In such a scenario, initially it was difficult to make such risk aversion taking people to convince that I can handle their case well and have the requisite competence and skills, however I think what worked for me was the fact that in the courts whenever I was acting as a defense counsel, even in smaller cases, I used to give my 100% and used to put more hard work than many of the established lawyers would have put. This became noticeable not only to the Presiding Officers, Additional Public Prosecutors, Niab Courts and the police officials, but also to the litigants waiting for their cases to be called. This gave me visibility. Also, I enlisted myself with the South District Legal Aid Society (DLSA-South) in the initial days and rendered my services to the best of my abilities as a Legal Aid Counsel (LAC) in those matters where the poor accused persons, because of lack of wherewithal, were unable to get good representation in the courts.
When handling both ad-hoc and institutional arbitration cases, what core skills and strategies do you rely on? Can you share an example of a particularly difficult arbitration case that you were able to resolve successfully?
I would honestly say that Arbitration is akin to an exalted Civil Trial. And if one doesn’t have the experience of conducting trials, especially in civil cases starting from drawing up the case from the scratch and skill in cross-examination of witnesses, that is going to be a big handicap for the lawyer intending to succeed in the field of arbitration. Fortunately, I started my career in the beginning years in trial courts, apart from frequent appellate and HC/ SC/ NCDRC works. And this decision to start from the trial courts was only because I was fortunate enough to interact with the stalwarts and who and who of the Indian legal system during my Law Faculty days as the Student Convenor of the Seminar & Discussion Society of the CLC. It was one unanimous piece of advice, as a student of law, I had received from them, i.e., to know the basics and to learn the trial works, especially being a first generation lawyer and an outsider in Delhi.
In my first Arbitration case, the seat of which was in Kolkata, West Bengal, before the Ld. Sole Arbitrator Sh. Sushanta Chatterjee (who recently passed away), former Judge Calcutta High Court, where the Respondent had, citing a big theft at their site because of the alleged deficiency of service and dereliction of duty on the part of my client (a Manpower Supplier), had withheld payments of my client. Much depended on the veracity of the story of theft as alleged by the Respondent. At that point of time, my first-hand experience at cross-examination stood in good stead in Kolkata and I was able to show/ expose that the alleged theft never took place and it was a just ploy on the part of the Respondent to not to pay the dues of my client. This clinched the case in my favour and I won the Award for my client.
In defending clients in cases involving economic offenses, such as those handled by the EOW, CBI, or ED, what do you believe are the key considerations in crafting an effective defense strategy? Could you highlight a case that was particularly interesting to you?
Usually, and if I may say, invariably, the EOW and CBI has a penchant for filing voluminous chargesheet and enlist 30/50/85 witnesses, if not more. And here there is enough scope of contradictions and loopholes. As a defense lawyer representing an accused, I am not required to prove that my client is innocent beyond reasonable doubt, since the same is the burden of the Prosecution and not the accused. A careful reading of the chargesheet and statements particularly of the key witnesses, gives sufficient points and opportunities to show to the Court that there is difficulty in accepting the case of the prosecution and there are doubts and contradictions and there are two views possible and after that I leave the rest to the Court to decide. In fact in many EOW cases, I have got my clients discharged at the initial stage itself. Obviously, the knowledge about the latest judgment is something, inter alia, which clinches the decision in your favour. In an interesting case being tried u/s 420 IPC, the CBI has summoned on a single day a number of witnesses. The trial had started almost 6/7 years after the case was registered. By that time many witnesses were not traceable and those who had come had shifted to different places outside Delhi and had travelled to Delhi from distant places. That very day, due to the sheer number of witnesses (complainants) and the heavy board of the court concerned, matter was getting adjourned. The witnesses showed reluctance to come again for the examination in chief and cross-examination. At that point of time, I was able to get them to compromise and get their statements recorded. On that single day most of the witnesses compromised with the accused and the case became very weak. Later on, in the cross examination of the few remaining witnesses, I was able to show that the prosecution was not able to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
You are highly regarded for your expertise in matrimonial disputes and family law. How do you view the changing landscape of women’s rights in matrimonial cases, and what are the major challenges you come across while dealing with matrimonial cases?
Unfortunately, matrimonial disputes are one of the fastest increasing legal disputes in India, at least in Metropolitan cities like Delhi. The ability to adjust and let go of certain things, which at the first place should not have been an issue at all, I am sorry to state, has become more and more scarce these days. Intervention of the family members, especially because of the instant calls and the tendency of the people to “create evidence” has weekend the mutual trust and faith a couple ought to have for any marriage to work. I am happy to see that the Courts in Delhi have become more and more gender neutral, especially in the matters instituted under the various provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The same is the situation in cases instituted under s.144 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) (old s. 125 CrPC). Over implication of the relatives and distant relatives in DV Act matters by the aggrieved are being frowned upon by the Judicial Magistrates.
The major challenge, I think, is the lack of cogent and convincing evidence in matrimonial disputes, since most of the allegations pertain to something which had happened within the four walls of the matrimonial home. And this many a time, gives opportunity to a party to level baseless and sometimes ridiculous allegations! I am also especially sad to see how the children suffer due to the mutual fight between their own parents. I strongly feel that any lawyer handling such matrimonial cases must be a sensitive person herself/ himself because that is the only thing which might help the litigating couple who are blinded by their mutual distrust and hate towards each other and who would go to any extent to prove that the other person was wrong and he/she has been wronged.
As the founder and managing partner of Actus Legal Associates, how do you effectively manage a team of 7-10 lawyers while ensuring consistent performance and a steady flow of work across the firm?
I believe in self-control and believe that no one can help a person who is not willing to help herself/ himself. So, I always try to make my colleagues and juniors realise that they have to take responsibility and deliver the results. Litigation, among other legal areas of practice and when compared with other areas of practice in law, is very demanding. Only highly motivated people can survive in litigation.
I believe in situational leadership and delegation. Once the expectations are clear and one is clear with the facts of the case at hand, I trust my team to deliver the results. Discussions and deliberations and constant evaluation of the progress of the cases we are handling through our own internal mechanism, I think helps us to ensure consistent performance and steady flow of work across the firm.
For young lawyers aspiring to specialize in litigation, arbitration, or criminal defense in India, what advice would you offer? What key skills and personal qualities do you believe are essential for success in these areas of law?
Your this question is precisely the same question, which as a law student and the Student Convenor of the Seminar & Discussion Society of the CLC, I used to ask the Legal Luminaries, since I was one coordinating and inviting those Supreme Court and High Court Judges and the doyens of the Bar to the CLC for events, lectures and conferences and many a time, I used to get some free time with these seniors in the profession. Since many of them were alumni of CLC, the chats were pretty friendly. I was told invariably by everyone I had put this question, that I must know the basics and spend some initial years learning trial work, both civil and criminal and this is what I will advise the young lawyers aspiring to specialize in litigation, arbitration or criminal defense in India.
Inter alia, the ability to work hard, good recollection capacity, vivacity, positive attitude and what I feel are some of the most important qualities for a litigation lawyer, I also feel that a litigation lawyer must be ready and be there in the court much before the court starts. Being before time, gives sufficient time to once again go through your file, talk to the client and be abreast with facts of the case at hand. Many times, your ability to keep an open mind and not acting only as per your strategy made last evening, just being alive to the requirements and queries of the court, carries the day for you. Ability to network with people outside your profession is also one of the important skills and qualities, I believe are essential for success in these areas of law.
Looking back at your career, what has been your most fulfilling case, and what were the learning experiences that you’d like to share with us?
In one of the matrimonial disputes cases, where both the parties had married with each other after their unsuccessful first marriage and had a baby born out of this second marriage, I played a crucial role to ensure that the matter is settled through mediation in which there was no intervention of the families of both the parties. Actually, I sensed during the initial days of my engagement as a counsel for one of the parties that the real culprit for the impasse were the parents of both the parties and the couple were having almost cordial relationship and it was only because of the unintended but damaging interference by the parents from both the sides, the relations had become strained to the extent that one of them had filed a petition for divorce on the ground of cruelty. I impressed upon the Ld. Family Court to send the matter (despite I having been drafted the WS and carrying the same in my hand to the Court) to the Mediation Centre and be taken up under the supervision of the most experienced Mediator and the parents of both the parties be strictly barred from entering the Mediation Room. That worked! The moments the parents were barred from interfering, the couple was able to come to an amicable settlement and resolve their grievances. I am happy to inform you that as on date those warring couples are living happily together with their beautiful child.
The experience which I gained here was that a lawyer must also be a good listener, especially in family matters and the best way to resolve a matrimonial dispute is amicable settlement. Dehors the din, usually matrimonial matters are more about small issues generally connected with adjustments and if one is able to point out and target and resolve those small issues, many families may be saved from disintegration and ending up in divorce.
Get in touch with Nishant Kr. Srivastava –
The post appeared first on .