Lawyer's Diary December 3, 2007

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LAWYER'S DIARY

December 3, 2007
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Published as a blog for friends and clients by Vineet Bhagat, Advocate

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INSIDE:

> SEMINAR : "PLEA BARGAINING IN INDIA - IS IT ANTITHESIS TO THE RULE OF LAW?"

> A Big leap for Cable Industry!!!

> Law Firm Management

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>> SEMINAR : "PLEA BARGAINING IN INDIA - IS IT ANTITHESIS TO THE RULE OF LAW?"

The inclusion of Chapter on Plea Bargaining in the Criminal Procedure Code and its coming into force in July 2006 has sparked numerous discussions regarding is benefits and how it can reduce the workload of the backlogged Courts and to declutter the Judicial system and the Concentration Camps that our Jails have known to become. According to many Jurists our Criminal Justice system has collapsed because of a very slow criminal justice system where the trials are cumbersome, long and slow and the inclusion of Plea Bargaining in the Indian Criminal Judicial System will help to reduce the pressure on the courts. The objective is laudable but does raise a few questions which are as critical as decluttering the courts, like:

-> Whether the system adopted by us fits the Indian scenario where it can become a tool in the hands of the criminals to misuse and get away from the consequence of crime?

-> Are the safeguards are in place to prevent its misuse?

-> Whether Plea Bargaining is only a shortcut adopted by Legislature of our Country to avoid the long and hard option of boosting the judicial system where the cases are disposed of with speed?

-> And last but not least, whether the concept of Plea Bargaining, which has been loosely borrowed from the US, is antithesis to the Rule of Law?

To answer the above questions and many other such questions, we at UNIVERSAL LAWYER'S GUILD have organised a Seminar on the topic - "Plea Bargaining in India - Is it antithesis to the Rule of Law?" and to address us on these questions we have brought together a very strong panel of speakers from among the best of Jurists, Lawyers, Legislature and Judiciary, just for YOU.

- Hon'ble Mr.Justice Ashok Bhan, Judge Supreme Court of India & Chairman of NLSA (National Legal Services Authority);

- Hon'ble Dr.H.R.Bhardwaj, Union Minister for Law & Justice, Government of India;

- Mr.Goolam E. Vahanvati, Solicitor General of India, Supreme Court of India; and

- Prof. (Dr.) Mool Chand Sharma, Vice-Chairman University Grants Commission.

We thank the above Hon'ble Guest Speakers to accept our humble invitation on a short notice and you and I know that we cannot ask for a better panel of Speakers to address the above Topic and all of them need no introduction.

And it is a great pleasure to invite all of you to attend the Seminar which is going to be held on Wednesday 12th December 2007 from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm at Hall No.2 INDIAN LAW INSTITUTE, Opposite Supreme Court of India, Bhagwan Dass Road, New Delhi - 110001, as per the programme mentioned below:

3:30 pm : Registration

4:15 pm : Lighting of Lamp

4:20 pm : Address by Prof. (Dr.) Mool Chand Sharma, Vice-Chairman UGC

4:35 pm : Address by Solicitor General of India Mr.Goolam E. Vahanvati

4:50 pm : Address by Hon'ble Union Minister of Law & Justice Dr.H.R.Bhardwaj

5:05 pm : Address by Hon'ble Mr.Justice Ashok Bhan, Judge Supreme Court of India and Chairman of NLSA

5:20 pm : High Tea

Mark Your Calendar Now to Attend this Seminar and be in your seats by 4pm ready to begin. The seats will be offered on first come first basis and with the above panel of speakers coming to address the Seminar, you would certainly not want to be left out.

To know more about the above seminar and to associate with the organisation, you may contact the following persons on the numbers mentioned against their names:

Vineet Bhagat, Advocate - 9810209570; Sanjay Katyal, Advocate - 9350023553; Puneet Khurana, Advocate - 9810341338.

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>> A big leap for Cable Industry!!!

The Cable Industry has been the handmaiden of the Broadcasters who alongwith their agents have created and maintained monopoly among the last mile operators and would at their whims and fancies make or break a Cable TV Operator/Network. The screams of the harassed, humiliated and victimised Cable TV Operators/Networks finally reached the ears of the Government and TDSAT was entrusted with resolution of disputes between various service providers in the Cable & Broadcasting Industry vide the Notification dated 10th December 2004. The Cable Operators/Networks lapped up the opportunity and challenged the whimsical actions of the Broadcasters with rigour.

Sky Vision was the first to throw the challenge to the STAR TV and is the best example of the Broadcaster's anxiety to maintain the monopoly in the Cable TV Business, and the Broadcaster left no stone unturned to deprive Sky Vision of its Pay Channels. The Hon'ble Tribunal had passed an order in favour of Sky Vision for restoration Signals of STAR TV to its Network in the Year 2005, but the Broadcaster was successful in avoiding restoring the channels to Sky Vision. Again in the Year 2006, the Hon'ble Tribunal directed the STAR TV to activate the signals to Sky Vision and again the Broadcaster was successful in avoiding to provide signals to Sky Vision. Thereafter, for about a year, a stay order issued by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of 'Sea TV Network' intervened and prevented the Sky Vision from getting the signals from STAR TV.

After the decision of the Hon'ble Suprme Court in the case of 'Sea TV', Sky Vision again applied for restoration of signals to its Cable TV Network and the Court directed Sky Vision to provide all the relevant information to STAR TV and though the information was supplied, the Broadcaster used every dilatory tactic to avoid the restoration of signals. The Hon'ble Tribunal rightly saw through the conduct of the Broadcaster and passed a direction on 14th October 2007 to STAR TV to restore the signals to the Sky Vision within 3 days. Nothing happened. Sky Vision filed contempt and STAR TV filed for modification of order. Another direction followed on 31st October 2007 for restoration of signals within 2 days. Still nothing happened. Another contempt followed and finally the Hon'ble Tribunal showed that it can use its teeth to bite in case of deliberate and intentional non-compliance of its directions and imposed a fine amounting to Rs.50,000/- on STAR TV on 21st November 2007. SAME DAY THE SIGNALS TO SKY VISION WERE RESTORED. Once again the Rule of Law has prevailed and hopefully the Broadcasters have learnt their lesson!

To view the said order go to: http://www.tdsat.nic.in/Order%27sFol/21.11.2007/PNo.8(C)of05.htm

by Vineet Bhagat, Advocate

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>> Law Firm Management

We have been dealing with a lot of issues in Management of our Law Firm and over the period of time we have devised many systems which have worked for us and of the two practices which we have recently adopted are - 'Daily Coordination Meetings' and 'Weekly Forward Meetings'.

Daily 'Coordination Meetings' - Every day, our litigation team huddle together in the conference room soon after Court time is over, alongwith the secretarial staff and share the information with each other regarding what happened in each of the cases and the steps to be taken in each case to ensure compliance of the directions of the Court. This makes sure that everyone on the team is aware of the progress of the cases and tasks are entrusted/delegated to the concerned persons. This has really boosted the team spirit of the litigation team and created a structure for it to ensure compliance, which was earlier the responsibility of the Individual Associate Advocate, who was entrusted with the case file. This way, if one person slips, the others are there to support him and to call him to account.

Weekly 'Forward Meetings' - Different Advocates in the Firm are dealing with different cases relating to diverse fields of law. Every week on a Thursday, we get together to share those experiences. We have realised the benefits of sharing the information and we share what one has learnt and the mistakes that they have made. Sharing their individual experiences have made sure that everyone does not have to 'reinvent the wheel' and the procedures are being documented for the guidance of everyone presently working with us and who would join us in the future. That is why we call these meetings 'Forward Meetings' as they are designed to take the whole team forward. It is also a Forum to discuss the internal issues and concerns facing the Law Firm and a Forum to discuss the plans to take the Firm ahead in the future.

During the Weekly Forward Meetings, we have discussed issues and have committed to sharing our experience with the friends and clients. The present e-mail is a step in this direction and to learn from their experiences and feedback. I am committed that you would get value out of our experiences and I hope that we would learn from the reply mails that we will receive in response, to which we all look forward to. I am also committed to making this e-mail a regular feature.

Thanks!

Vineet