Bar Council must ensure only lawyers with integrity are elected as office bearers of bar bodies: Justice S Vaidyanathan

Justice S Vaidyanathan of the Madras High Court said Wednesday that bar councils must ensure that only lawyers with utmost integrity are made office bearers of bar bodies. .Justice Vaidyanathan specifically urged the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry to ensure that only lawyers with integrity are made office bearers of bar associations.Justice Vaidyanathan also cautioned young lawyers against the "growing trend of fake lawyers" and said if any lawyer comes to know of fake lawyers accepting briefs, they must inform the court immediately.The judge was Speaking at the farewell ceremony organised for him at the Madras High Court's principal bench in Chennai upon his elevation as the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court. ."As is known, in the profession of advocacy the advocates are referred to as Gentlemen. Every lawyer must try to fit into that word. Advocates must also ensure that once a litigation starts, mediation should be given preference so that matters cane be settled at the earliest point of time within a short duration," the judge said..Justice Vaidyanathan also said that until some decades ago, lawyers were seen by the public as esteemed individuals and received great respect. However, that was not the case at present, he said"Each and every lawyer must realise that genuine lawyers are going to be deprived of briefs on account of touts and fake lawyers and it is the duty of every lawyer to bring it to the notice of the court about the fake lawyer. It is my earnest wish that the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry ensures that only lawyers with utmost honesty and integrity are elected as office bearers. Why I wish so is because, lawyers, several decades ago had high level of good will in the society. Whether they get such respect now, is a question?" Justice Vaidyanathan said..Justice Vaidyanathan was enrolled as a lawyer in 1986 and was elevated as an Additional Judge of the Madras High Court on October 25, 2013. He became a permanent judge on April 14, 2015 and is the senior-most judge of the Madras High Court. .During the farewell ceremony, TN Advocate General PS Raman said that during his tenure as a judge of the Madras High Court, Justice Vaidyanathan had been part of around 74 division benches and had disposed of over 67,000 cases.