Young lawyers should start legal practice in district courts: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant on Monday spoke on the importance of young lawyers starting their litigation practice in district courts.

The CJI remarked that there is a misconception among law graduates that the Supreme Court or High Court is where one should ideally practice.

“There is a misconception created that because 'I am a law graduate from a national university', the minimum place or standard for my practice should be either the High Court or the Supreme Court. We have to first address this misconception,” he stated. 

The CJI went on to advise that young lawyers should first learn the ropes of litigation in the district courts, as that is where the true training of legal professionals starts.

“We should incentivise practice young lawyers to join district court for a while and then eventually shift to other courts. The entire training as a true professional starts in the district court ... Whatever success I could gain in life, my foundation in the district court played an extremely vital role in that,” he said.

The CJI was speaking at a felicitation ceremony organised by the Bar Council of Delhi at the Delhi High Court.

The list of invitiees included Supreme Court judge Justice Vikram Nath, Union Minister of Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal, Delhi High Court Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, Chairman of Bar Council of India (BCI) Senior Advocate Manan Kumar Mishra and judges of the Delhi High Court.

During his address, CJI Kant also lamented that district courts have been misbranded, miscaptioned and wrongly defined as “lower courts” in the past. He lauded the district courts for serving as the roots of the legal profession.

“The district courts are the breeding centre, the centres of cultivating the professional culture, the centre of giving the requisite strength to the roots of the legal profession. Justice does not primarily reside in the appellate forums only. The true justice resides only at the grassroots level courts because the ordinary citizen will have the first encounter when he goes for the enforcement of his right only in the district courts,” he said.

The CJI further requested the senior members of the Bar to impart their knowledge to the next generation of lawyers.

“My sincere appeal to all the senior members of the Bar… the knowledge you have, please give it to the next generation of lawyers... So that for generations, the district court lawyer is known for what he is known for... his professional caliber,” he stated. 

While reminiscing over his young days of practice, he remarked that some matters he filed as an advocate are now getting decided in courts. 

“That is the system,” he stated.

On a parting note, he stated that the courts are integral partners of the justice delivery system and must act in tandem while facing challenges.

“There are expectations from the system and the justice delivery system must respond to the challenges. We will successfully face the challenge when all of us are together as same team. We all are co-partners, integral partners in the justice delivery system... Whenever issues or challenges come, we will have to address them jointly and commonly,” he observed.