Dr VB Coutinho and the epitome of Guru-Shishya parampara

On a breezy morning in the summer of 1986, I parked my Luna moped at the University Law College, Bangalore campus. My dreams of pursuing Medicine had just been shattered and the five-year LL.B. course had just been announced. As I walked up the staircase of the University building to get an application form, I saw a gentleman surrounded by some teachers and students, speaking in a booming voice.

I quietly went to get my form and on the way back, I learnt that he was Dr VB Coutinho, the Principal, who sat in the corner office.

After getting admission into the law program, one of the first lectures by Dr Coutinho, who taught Jurisprudence, completely left me in awe of the depth of law and its effect on society. There were no attendance requirements, but Dr Coutinho always taught a packed classroom. He encouraged us to study in the library, which had almost all Indian and International journals. He led the core team at ULC along with Dr Kagi, Prof Ashrafunnisa and Prof Lathika Nath. He was there when we entered college in the morning and when we left college in the evening.

Immediately after the five-year course started in ULC, the proposal to set up the National Law School (NLSIU) in Bangalore was also approved by the Government of Karnataka. There was no proper campus for NLSIU and some rooms in the Central College campus were allotted for the classrooms. Dr Madhava Menon was announced as the Director of NLSIU. All of us students geared up to provide the logistical support for the inauguration of NLSIU at the St Joseph’s School auditorium. When the first batch of NLSIU came in 1988, Dr Coutinho told us to welcome the NLSIU students. The library facilities of ULC were made available to the NLSIU students. I distinctly recall NLSIU students being in ULC’s library regularly and also interacting with Dr Coutinho. He thus played a positive role in the initial years of NLSIU by “opening ULC’s doors and his heart” to the students of NLSIU.

Moot courts were institutionalized in ULC by Dr Coutinho. During those days, there were mainly two moot courts held at the national level – the Bar Council Moot and the Jessup Moot. In 1985, a team from ULC consisting of Sheela Murthy and KR Pradeep had represented India in the Jessup Moot and Dr Coutinho wanted the five-year students to compete regularly. ULC held its internal selections and competed fiercely in both the moot court competitions.

Dr Coutinho was there to provide us all the required support. I distinctly recall that a particular volume of the American Journal of International Law was missing from ULC’s library. He immediately contacted the library at Dharwad with whom he had close links and one of my team-mates went there to obtain the requisite material photocopied from there. He even used to resolve small fights we three girls used to have among us and ensure we went straight back to work.

He accompanied us to Pondicherry, where the national competition was held. It was his dedication and leadership to the cause of ULC, coupled with his exuberance to always seek excellence, that resulted in our team consisting of SR Anuradha, Anjana Taggarse and myself getting selected to represent India in the 1989 Philip C Jessup Moot Court Competition in Chicago. Finances were a major impediment for travelling, but it was the resilience which he instilled in us which ensured that we never gave up. ULC teams then represented India at Jessup in 1991, 1992 and even thereafter. With his effort, students from ULC achieved several laurels in moot courts both at the national and international level.

It is usually rare for students to keep in touch with their teachers after education is completed. But with Coutinho Sir, as we all called him, it was the exact opposite. Most of his students never lost touch with him. One incident which stands imprinted in my memory is when I returned from the University of Cambridge after completing my LL.M. In my final year of law, I had applied to become a Management-Trainee (Legal) in one of India’s established corporate houses. The company had offered me the job and had agreed to postpone my joining for a year while I completed my LL.M. Upon my return, I joined the company at the MG Road office in Bangalore. After joining, I went to meet Dr Coutinho at ULC. It was late afternoon and there were hardly any students in college. But, sure as always, when I peeped into Sir’s room, he was there working on his table. He immediately summoned me inside, enquired about my grandmother, LL.M. studies etc. I told him that I had joined a corporate house as a Management Trainee. The expression on his face immediately changed. He was clearly not happy. After a brief pause, he said - and I am quoting him as I never forgot his words –

“I don’t want to see you in an air-conditioned office. I would like to see you in the court either this side or that side."

My whole world came crashing down. I thought I had achieved the best that could happen to me – first rank holder in LL.B, admission to Cambridge with a full scholarship for an LL.M, an excellent job – but here was Dr Coutinho telling me that he was not happy. I was in deep thought on the way back home on the bus to Basavanagudi. On the same day, I got the call from Delhi to join a law firm. His words, which I repeated to my grandmother, had a role to play in her decision to send me for practice in Delhi, and the rest is now history.

He had a great career as an academician - Professor at Dharwad University, Principal and Dean at ULC, Bangalore University, Vice-Chancellor of Gulbarga University, member of University Grants Commission (UGC), etc. He served the cause of legal education in general, and in Karnataka in particular. Post retirement, he has continued to contribute at VIPS - Delhi, Garden City University and many other institutions of which I am not even aware. He has authored books on law and several articles in legal journals. He has been a great teacher and a human being par-excellence.

Dr Coutinho was an integral part of my life through all these years. We always kept in touch. For us friends from ULC, Dr Coutinho was not just a teacher, he was a friend, mentor and guide who inspired and taught us not to compromise on hard work, commitment, diligence, and above all, to keep the fire to excel in life. He has stood with all of us and known each of us not just as his students, but as his children. He knew about our professions, our spouses, our children/families and would remember to enquire about their well-being always. Several of his students are lawyers, judges, academicians and even politicians.

Upon elevation in 2017, for my oath, apart from my family, one of the two persons whose presence I hoped for was Dr Coutinho. I was very lucky he could make it.

My school education at Kumaran’s in Bangalore always started with the morning assembly. One of the shlokas recited was `'Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo, Maheshwara; Guru sakshat parabrahma tasmayshree gurave Namaha’.

Coutinho Sir taught me the real meaning of the shloka by being the `Guru’.

Rest in Peace Coutinho Sir!

Justice Prathiba M Singh is a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court.