Akhil Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad take serious note of the fact that while
teaching the basics of legal philosophy, Jurisprudence and other fundamental
subjects in Law to the students in Indian Law Universities/colleges, the social
realities, unique cultural evolution, the legal history and functioning of dispute
resolution which has evolved in Bharaths civilisatioinal past are not given due
importance. This is reflected in the attitude of the Bar and Bench towards the Law,
its theory and practice, as it continues to overwhelm and alienate the common
Citizens of our Nation from the judicial process.
The legal education in any country must be differentiated from professional
education in other field due to the larger impact it has on the overall functioning of
the social institutions. It creates lawyers and make judges who decide the fate of
individuals and the masses. Hence the legal education carries great importance and
its role should be clearly defined. Legal education is the most pivotal among all the
social science branches. However, the overreaching world view and orientation of
present legal education in this country is based on western Anglo-saxon
jurisprudence and its interaction with western ideas of social psychology and
philosophy rooted in western civilizational milieu. New ideas relevant to
contemporary needs must always be welcomed. But must not come at the cost of the
alienation of ideas and experience of Indians and their civilizational consciousness.
Such civilizational consciousness is rooted in India’s spiritual and cultural heritage,
language, customs and traditions. The very notion of individual and the collective is
distinctly rooted in Indian Philosophy. The 16th National Conference of Akhil
Bharatiya Adhivakta Parishad held at Kurukshetra on 26 to 28 of December, 2022
expressed its deep concern over the hostile attitude of respective stake holders in
incorporating the Bharatheeya Jurisprudence at the Legal Education sector.
Seeing the impact of law over the course of country in various fields a deep
introspection on the state of legal education is very much required. Judiciary and
advocacy are not merely a profession or service, but a responsibility which should
be undertaken by sensible and sensitive citizens. Without reforming teachers,
teaching and their pedagogy, neither the vision of the legal education and its
outcomes can be improvised, nor it can effectively fulfill the philosophy of justice
prescribed in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.
For this ABAP resolves for:
Best minds should be encouraged to join legal academia and these be trained
by the renowned thinkers, philosophers and jurists in order to expose them to
different streams. Bharath always had a well-defined legal system based upon
Dharma and Dharmasastras. The glimpse can be clearly seen in the Shruthis and
various smrithis. The Indian system of logic as it applies to the formation and
interpretation of the laws and its jurisprudential heritage is completely sidelined in
the current legal system. All the old texts may not be gold and number of principles
relevant at that time may not have relevance in the contemporary situation. But the
evolution of principles and how they were received by the society etc must be
studied, taught and applied in practice.
There is a dire need to develop a curriculum incorporating all these valuable
texts and six Darshans (Sankhya, Yog, Nyaya, Vaisheshik, Poorva Mimasa and Uttar
Mimasa ) as compulsory part of legal education, with an objective of developing a
Bhartiya drishti on legal jurisprudence amongst the students. Every student of Law
and of social philosophy must be provided the text of Constitution as adopted by the
Constituent Assembly with pictures. India is a spiritual and civilizational democracy.
Thus spirituality (not religiosity) should be recognized as an essential part of legal
system to evolve a better coordination between manas(mind) and Budhhi
(intelligence). Theory of good consciousness should be most fundamental to
interpret law and to develop good consciousness, ethics values and spirituality
should be practiced. In legal education teaching, research and practice should be
trifurcated to make it more effective. Certain foundational aspects of the meaning
and contours of Dharma and its various manifestations should be compulsorily
taught as part of social science to school students (10th standard) as part of NEP. A
focus on sensitivity of local languages and local legal issues must be part of the
clinical curriculum in the la syllabus. This may to a large extent, resolve the problem
the legal system alienating its own people from their cultural and civilizational
context.
