Hon'ble Mr. Justice A.M. Ahmadi, Chief Justice of India, Hon'ble Shri  H.R. Bhardwaj, Minister  of  State  for  Law, Justice and Company Affairs,  Shri  Milon  K.Banerji,  Attorney General for   India,  Shri  Kapil  Sibal,  President,  Supreme  Court  Bar   Association,   Shri M.N.Krishnamani,  Vice  President, Supreme  Court Bar Association, Hon'ble  Judges  of  the Hon'ble  Supreme Court of India, Hon'ble Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Hon'ble  Judges of Delhi High Court, other dignitaries, senior members of the Bar, colleagues and friends,

It is my proud privilege to welcome you on this 'Law Day' and I welcome you, one and all. I welcome you all on this 16th (sixteenth) Law Day Celebration as we commenced celebrating it from 1979, though it relates back to November 26, 1949 when we adopted, enacted and  gave unto  ourselves  our  constitution. On this occasion, we have been  doing  heart  searching,  we have carried out introspection, we have talked about our problems and difficulties and  possible answers   to   resolve  the  same,  in  our  march  to  reach  the  ultimate  goal   of   'Universal brotherhood',  of  Gandhian goal of 'wiping out every tear from every eye'  and  constitutional goal of justice, liberty and equality to our citizens.

The  manifestation  of  the One Cosmic Reality through us all,  basically  leads  to  two major  expressions,  one  within and other without. These in turn lead to 'our problems' and 'problems because of us' and on this Law Day, we relate them to our profession. Most of  our basic  problems  with which majority of advocates struggle today, relate  to  basic  professional necessities  like  proper  facilities of chambers, cubicles, conference  rooms,  library,  parking, canteen  and  even clean toilets and that is why we are called  developing. 

Supreme  Court Bar  Association  spends  60% of its total collection on the salaries of the  staff,  30%  towards printing,  stationery  and  other  miscellaneous expenses and  meager  about  10%  for  library. Nothing on academics, nothing on research and development and of course we have no welfare scheme,  which clearly establishes that we are lacking far-behind in effectively contributing  to bring  about  professional  proficiency amongst our fellow members, which  must  be  the  real thrust of our activities.

We  seriously  lack  in 'informatics,' which is the most powerful tool  of  todays  'third wave'  situation,  where  we conceive of the existence of a  'Global  Village'  with  'Electronic Cottages'. To make a beginning for the first time the Bar Association has installed a computer (donated  by our President, Shri Kapil Sibal) in its office. We have already developed  a  data base  of  all  our 3091 members. For the first time on November 16,1995  we  have  started  a 'Meet  a  Lawman  Series' for guidance of the young lawyers, which was  inaugurated  by  the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India with Shri F.S.Nariman delivering the keynote address.

Undoubtedly,  the  existing legal system is not up to the mark, but one must  always  be reminded of what Roscoe Pound wrote (Justice According To Law, p.90-91) :-

"Realism  in art is a cult of the ugly. The realists say that ugly exists in  nature, therefore, it is true. So to be true we must paint the ugly. But when they say that  ugly is  real, they may mean that it exists, which nobody can deny, or they may mean that  it is  significant  which is disputable. We have always known  that  judicial  process does  not at all times, in all places and in all respects confirm absolutely to our ideal  of it.  Despite all checks with which we surround it, it does not come out in every case entirely  as we could wish. But, the striving for the ideal goes far to realise the  ideal. It is the approximation to our ideal which is significant not the falling short, which we seek continually to control and reduce to a minimum."

Problems created by us are also many. The fundamental being our incapacity to raise our professional level enabling control of the increasing social decay. It is our profession alone, which deals with all social activities, including its evils and we have the potentiality  to control  them.  Our law reports, reflect our achievements and involvements. We  find  in  them every  issue,  big or small, difficult or easy, complex or simple which has arisen  and  effected our social and economic, growth and development and with which law has developed 'brick by brick'. We have only to brace ourselves together, by joining our heads and hands together, by putting  our house in order and fight just one evil, which as our Hon'ble Chief Justice  puts  it 'wipe  out  one blot on our face' i.e. 'the arrears'.

Individually we are  intellectual  giants,  but collectively,  we fail to co-ordinate and emerge as the leading institution. We need some  more scientific  and  spiritual temperament, for we are passing through an era of crises of  faith  and trust.  While  welcoming  you all on this Law Day, it can only be wished  that  we  leave  our small  petty  'islands of thoughts' which we under illusion, believe to be the 'Whole'.  We  are the  only  hope  for the nation, if we are able to surge ahead jointly, in the spirit  of  this  land, from the time of Rig Veda till today -

 "Meet together, talk together,
May your minds comprehend alike,
Common be your actions and achievements,
Common be your thoughts and intentions,
Common be the wishes of your hands,
So may there be union amongst you."

However,  that  is only possible if we are well equipped, we have better  tools  for  our surgery,  we have developed para legal services, the economics of the profession works well  ( of  course for young lawyers) and we are not made to dissipate our thoughts, energy  and  time on minor problems. One arise out of the other and we go round in a circle. We will have  to break  this circle, some generation will have to do it and we are ready to do it. All we  need  is some more patience, some more guidance and some more support. I  am very optimistic ( obvious because I have to be here for next 25 yrs., though I  am also aware that 25 yrs. is insignificant in our nations history of 5000 yrs.) and my guiding lines have always been what Dr. Radhakrishnan felt (Our Heritage, p 13) :-

"...that  we  are still alive, still vital, still looking forward, still dissatisfied  with  our present, still not merely adoring the past, but looking forward to the future. So long  as we (all) have this kind of impulse in our mind, the future of our country (institution), of every country for that matter is safe."

With  these  words, I welcome you all on this evening.

Aruneshwar Gupta

Secretary, SCBA