Balancing Ideals and Realities: Dr. Hitesh Bhatt’s Insights on Legal Education, Judicial Accountability, and Public Sector Practice

Introduction

Dr Hitesh Bhatt is a distinguished legal professional, academic, and researcher with expertise spanning constitutional law, corporate practice and legal education. He earned his PhD in Law from Law College Dehradun, Faculty of Uttaranchal University, with his research focusing on judicial accountability, and holds multiple qualifications including an LLM in Constitutional and Administrative Law from National Law Institute University (NLIU) Bhopal and UGC-NET in Law.

His scholarly contributions have gained international recognition, with publications in globally acclaimed journals such as Nature, Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), Scopus and University Grants Commission—Consortium for Academic and Research Ethics (UGC-CARE) listed platforms. A former Assistant Professor of Law at Law College Dehradun, he mentored students, redesigned curricula, and guided numerous moot court teams to success.

Currently serving as Assistant Law Officer at National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Ltd., a Maharashtra public sector undertaking (PSU), Dr Bhatt oversees dispute resolution, contract management, right to information (RTI) compliance and prevention of sexual harassment (POSH) implementation. An invited speaker, Editorial Board member, and experienced moot Judge, he exemplifies the rare blend of legal scholarship, practical engagement and academic mentorship.

1. To begin, kindly provide a background on your motivation for pursuing a career in law and how this journey has been so far, commencing as a law student, then as a teacher and now as an Assistant Law Officer at NTPC Ltd.?

This is a fairly intriguing and relevant question, since I am a steadfast believer in the idea that where you are depends upon where you began. I would say that my father has had the foremost and seminal role to play in shaping my life journey. He is an adroit litigator whose style and conduct during his professional pursuits shaped my vision, heart and mind. I must, however, add a caveat here that, despite being a reasonably successful litigator at the District and Sessions Court, Pithoragarh, for numerous reasons that he still echoes to this day, but the vehemence has tapered off; he never wanted me to pursue a legal career. He encouraged me to choose any career other than law, as he had experienced penury and struggle for a large stretch of his legal life; therefore, he knew the legal profession was anything but comfortable.

As one would understand, he practiced at the first forum of India’s justice delivery apparatus, the District and Sessions Court, Pithoragarh, a remote border District Court. He never had the luxury of choosing selective cases. His litigation portfolio was a portmanteau of virtually every kind of matter under the sun. Therefore, his discussions with clients became my first point of exposure, sparking my interest in complex and multifaceted legal issues. However, the apple never falls far from the tree. His pursuit of social justice through his litigations deeply inspired me, and perhaps, in my mind’s eye, it was my first encounter with the legal profession, where I felt I had to enter the field because it tugged at my heartstrings. Reflecting on it now, I believe it was during those gripping and tense discussions, where I was a silent learner, that my heart unknowingly forged a tryst with the world of law.

After completing my senior secondary education in one of the remotest districts of Uttarakhand, I knew I had to study law. However, since the internet was not easily accessible in those days and our part of the world had yet to step onto the digital bandwagon fully, I lacked awareness of the CLAT examination and other national level entrance tests. Frankly, I was unaware, to my abysmal ignorance at the time, that the road to the country’s prestigious institutions lay through a national level entrance examination, such as CLAT or similarly situated other national level entrance examinations. For people in our part of the world, we only had heard about Kumaun University or Garhwal University. I would rue the fact that since we did not have meticulous career counselling sessions during our crucial school years, neither I nor any of my schoolmates had a clear idea of what we were supposed to pursue after completing school. I believe this lack of awareness about such examinations also stemmed from the fact that we were never really encouraged to look beyond traditional employability options: engineering for science students, MBBS for those with a background in Biology and Chartered Accountant (CA)/Company Secretary (CS) for commerce students. Beyond that, there seemed to be no career choices — except, of course, the Indian Armed Forces, which by and large remains the go-to option for many households in Uttarakhand. I can bet that if we had the chance to look beyond the palette of a few employable options known to us, some of our schoolmates would have had a different career journey than what we have today.

However, the almighty knows the best. To my surprise, it was a student interning under my father, who was then pursuing studies at Amity Law School, Amity University, Uttar Pradesh (UP), who became the gateway for me to enrol in an integrated five-year programme, the BA LLB (Hons.), at the law college. The next five years, from 2011 to 2016, marked a complete turnaround in my life. I discovered a deep satisfaction in research and the pursuit of knowledge, even as I grew disillusioned with teaching methodologies, which seemed outdated and disconnected from the pragmatic realities of the law. Coming from a Hindi heartland, where English was never my first language, finding my footing in the legal world was a struggle. Empathy for such difficulties was largely missing: the signal was loud and clear — shape up or ship out. That was when I became fascinated with teaching, often telling myself, “If I had been taught differently, this would have been so much better.” I began to resent specific subjects — not out of disinterest, but because, despite the faculty’s efforts, the vigour and vitality of teaching were lacking. I firmly believed that a good teacher could make even the most mundane lecture captivating, and that conviction became my calling.

Immediately after completing the BA LLB (Hons.), I wrote the CLAT-PG examination and fetched the first rank among the shortlisted candidates for NLIU, Bhopal, where I pursued my Master of Law (LLM) in constitutional and administrative law, a choice driven by my strong inclination towards constitutional law. I also wanted to experience firsthand the quality of education that National Law Universities are often glamorised for. The stark institutional divide between National Law University (NLU) and non-NLU students is entrenched and pervasive affecting both opportunities and employability. My experience at NLIU, Bhopal, offered a paradigm shift and reassured me that this world belongs to non-NLU graduates in equal measure.

By the time I completed my LLM, my desire had crystallised: teaching, imparting knowledge, and advancing legal education had become my passion. Naturally, I appeared for the UGC-NET examination, qualifying in both 2017 and 2021, making me eligible to be an Assistant Professor in Law. Since knowledge had become my constant pursuit, I also enrolled in a distance learning programme at Uttarakhand Open University, Haldwani, and completed a Master’s in Public Administration in 2020.

In 2021, I interviewed at several law universities in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, as I wanted to begin my academic career in my home State. After receiving multiple offers, I chose to join Law College Dehradun, a faculty of Uttaranchal University, as an Assistant Professor in Law. I served there for 13 months, and every day reinforced my conviction about the importance of teaching, learning and growth. During this period, I forged lifelong bonds, delivered numerous lectures, and looked beyond traditional classroom boundaries. I implemented my belief that teaching must go beyond textbooks: learning through judgments and comprehending the dynamic and alive letters of the law, immersing oneself in analytical discussions, and adopting innovative methods. I was able to forge an engaging connection with students, empowering them to find their voices and turning teaching into a catalyst for positive change.

As fate would have it, while pursuing my doctoral programme at Law College Dehradun under the esteemed supervision of Prof. Dr Rajesh Bahuguna, Dean of Law College Dehradun and Pro Vice Chancellor of Uttaranchal University, I began contemplating a sabbatical. Balancing full-time teaching with research felt unjust to my doctoral endeavours. Around the same time, I received an appointment at NTPC Ltd. as a Law Officer, a selection based on an examination I had cleared long before joining teaching.

Consequently, I parted ways with academia and joined NTPC Ltd. in December 2022. Since then, I have been serving as a Law Officer at Meja Urja Nigam Private Limited [a joint venture (JV) of NTPC Ltd. and Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited UPRVUNL], a thermal power plant. Yet, within me, the academician remains alive, striving to forge new ways of learning, discarding doctrinaire notions, and championing innovative, even heretical, approaches to cultivate a culture of legal awareness through education with both purpose and passion to breathe law into everything I uphold and espouse.

2. Having performed exceptionally well in CLAT PG and UGC-NET twice, what did these journeys teach you, not merely about competitive examinations but about discipline, resilience, and the pursuit of legal scholarship?

As famously said, “the journey of a thousand steps begins with a single step”, and I firmly believe that every examination is an archetype of this succinct apophthegm. Each examination has its own flair and flavour, and worldview. The key to acing any examination lies in understanding the tone and tenor of the examination and examining it closely. During the time I appeared for the CLAT PG and UGC-NET examinations, I did not specifically prepare for the legal portion, as I had always been thoroughly reading law. With utmost confidence, I can say that any law student who keeps themselves abreast of the Bare Acts, puts in a decent amount of effort by intently listening to classroom lectures, and makes a sincere effort to read extensively during law school, will not find it difficult, let alone impossible, to fetch passing scores in these two examinations.

However, scoring a competitive rank to leverage employment opportunities through the CLAT PG or obtaining the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) scholarship requires dedicated preparation, a devoted investment of time, and rigorous adherence to a carefully engineered schedule focused on examination specifics. For me, CLAT PG never seemed an arduous task, because my foundational understanding of law was reasonably strong. That said, it would be unfair to suggest that I took it lightly, as the truth is that I began preparing for the exam alongside my final semester studies by setting aside two hours every day. With the current structure of CLAT PG, I believe it has undergone a paradigm shift. Today, it is built more on the application of law than on rote memorisation. The cognitive and analytical skills are valued more in today’s examination pattern, in contrast to memorising endless case laws since time immemorial. The existing examination patterns test your awareness of ongoing legal issues and associated developments and events, assessing your comprehension of current affairs. Therefore, a genuine learner of law will find the present examination pattern to be egalitarian, favouring “understanding of the law” over “mugging the law”.

UGC-NET, however, presents an altogether different universe. Paper I, in particular, requires considerable effort to become familiar with its framework and scope. I devoted a substantial amount of time, supplemented by YouTube lectures, to understanding Paper I effectively. However, I would be disingenuous if I claimed to have worked laboriously hard. In contrast to the CLAT PG examination, the UGC-NET paper still appears to test candidates more on “remembering the law” than on “applying the law”. Since the examination requires students to memorise Bare Act provisions, recall countless judgments, and solve an unbounded number of multiple choice questions (MCQs) with a syllabus that feels endlessly vast, it undeniably calls for sustained effort. The eerie truth about the UGC-NET paper is that no student who has cracked JRF has ever admitted to feeling confident, before entering the exam hall, that they had fully completed the syllabus. The home truth is that constant study and preparation are the sure-shot recipe to crack the examination.

Therefore, in a nutshell, if I were to share my examination journey with someone, especially for these two papers, I would emphasise that these examinations demand sincerity and awareness. A student who has put in the hard yards during law school, by reading judgments, understanding legal language, acclimatising oneself with the legal jargons, niceties and interpretations, and exploring diverse legal areas across multifaceted streams of law, will not find the examinations impossible or intimidating. Anxiety and fear only set in when one is barking up the wrong tree or racing against time due to a lack of thorough preparation.

The key to acing these examinations is upholding the oath that every student implicitly takes when their parents leave them at the gates of a law school, with the hope that they will learn and grow. If the student walks the expected path through the treacherous, tormenting, riveting, yet rewarding journey of law school, they will emerge stronger, finding their voice despite staggering odds. For such a student, an examination becomes just another piece of the puzzle, no longer wrapped in an enigma, because they know how to look beyond appearances, pierce the proverbial veil, and step onto the launching pad of success, growth and prosperity.

3. Your LLM dissertation explored judicial appointments and the independence of the judiciary, while your doctoral research now interrogates the accountability of the higher judiciary. How has your scholarly lens on the judiciary evolved from concerns of independence to the equally pressing questions of accountability?

During my law school journey, when Article 124³ was being taught to us, I was struck by how essential and fundamentally relevant the position of the Indian higher judiciary is within the constitutional framework. I was deeply impressed by several judgments of the constitutional courts, where they paved the way for the enforcement of constitutional values. At the same time, however, I also came across episodes of constitutional abnegation, instances where these very courts, envisioned as the champions of civil liberties, appeared to surrender their constitutional duties. This fragile yet commanding position accorded to the Indian higher judiciary both enamoured and fascinated me. Can we truly imagine any judicial institution more potent than the Supreme Court of this country, vested as it is with almost infinite powers to adjudicate public causes? In its epistolary jurisdiction, even a letter can be treated as a writ if the grievance it raises warrants judicial attention, inviting the Court to apply the constitutional remedy to heal public wounds and injuries.

The judicial institution had long captured my imagination. During one of the moot courts I participated in, centered around the “selection process of Judges to the Indian higher judiciary and the reverberations of the basic structure doctrine”, the issue took deep root in my mind and heart for the profound implications it holds for constitutional well-being. With this thought in mind, I chose to pursue my master’s dissertation on the relevance and importance of an independent judiciary, along with the implications and ramifications of any potential breaches of its independence. My research brought into sharp relief the uniquely Indian interpretation of constitutional law undertaken by the Supreme Court, wherein the power of judicial appointments was arrogated to the judiciary itself, contrary to the apparent scheme of the constitutional text, under the pretext of “preserving constitutional values and shielding judicial institutions from pernicious breaches”. The judgment, strictly speaking, may have been untenable in terms of legal interpretation, yet it was ultimately acceptable, as it reflected an institutional response shaped by lived constitutional experience. At its core, it represented a pushback against the executive, a demonstration of dissent, and a signal from the constitutional courts, couched in more words than one, urging the executive to remain within its prescribed lanes.

In that portrayal of disillusionment, the necessity of having an accountable judiciary was instilled in me. A public institution cannot constantly nitpick and hold everyone else to account while simultaneously maintaining a thick layer of secrecy and opacity when it comes to shedding light on its own functioning. It was this very accountability that I sought to examine during my doctoral sojourn, where I endeavoured to scrutinise the little-known issues, some on the judicial side, and a fair share on the administrative side, that have together orchestrated an opaque and questionable state of functioning in the constitutional court.

The recent handling of the incidents involving Justice Shekhar Yadav and Justice Yashwant Varma, which I analysed during my doctoral journey, starkly exemplifies the dichotomous functioning of judicial institutions and their disparate treatment of cases. Transfer has often been suggested as a mechanism to ensure accountability in situations of potential judicial impropriety allegedly committed by a Judge: yet, in contrast, another Judge who openly espoused constitutionally demeaning views by making borderline inflammatory statements was not subjected to any corrective action. This exemplifies an accountability vacuum. My doctoral research has thus unravelled disquieting realities and advanced the argument that an aspirational India requires an independent yet accountable judiciary, one where constitutional values are vociferously promoted and upheld by independent courts, without fear or favour, but always under the accountability-enforcing vision embedded in the Indian Constitution⁴.

In my humble estimation, independence and accountability are constitutionally protected virtues. The schemes and structures of governance must be designed to promote transparency while ensuring careful enforcement of accountability mechanisms. One must never forget that what is at stake is the integrity of justice institutions; therefore, there is a greater onus to ensure that the pursuit of accountability does not create illegitimate openings for perverse influences. Be that as it may, accountability must become the order of the day, and any monolithic opposition to transparency must be eschewed, for it serves the system no good and only casts an unnecessary shadow of doubt. Simply put, transparency must be the norm, and opacity accentuated by genuine and germane considerations is a well-intentioned exception. The proper health of the system lies in finding ways and means to accommodate innocuous interventions while simultaneously pulverising malicious interjections. Accountability, after all, should not translate into an open assault on the institution.

4. You also hold a Master’s in Public Administration alongside your law degrees. How does this interdisciplinary background enable you to view constitutional law as a framework for governance and public policy?

If you are a law student, I believe there is one thing you should never drag your feet on: reading and learning. The content you engage with must not remain confined within the contours of the legal domain; instead, you should also explore literature, poetry, biographies, history, politics and beyond. My experience suggests that law is a vast conglomerate that draws upon people and experiences from every facet of society. Each domain offers its own ipseity — a uniqueness of viewpoint that contributes to strengthening one’s skill set.

I came to this realisation somewhat late in my law school journey. I began noticing the term “public policy” gaining significant traction in numerous judgments across various legal disciplines. I often asked myself what the definitional contours of this amorphous term truly were, and, frankly, there were no straight answers. It was in those moments that I realised legal texts may offer prescriptions. Still, there will inevitably be occasions when those texts run dry, requiring an infusion of imagination and insight drawn from associated streams of knowledge. This realisation pushed me to read beyond textbooks. During one of the lectures I attended at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, I was confronted with the subtle yet crucial administrative art that operates behind the scenes, an art that, when practiced well, provides salutary prescriptions for good governance.

In this backdrop, after completing my master’s in law, and since I was already hooked on reading beyond the law, I decided to opt for a course that would make my learning process more structured, continuous, and yet relaxing, given the inevitable time constraints. This was the reason behind choosing a distance education programme. The convergence of various courses and certificates I pursued over time helped me realise that constitutional law offers abundant tools and mechanisms to advance public governance, while every other discipline provides contours and multifaceted viewpoints that aid in realising those visions through the framework of constitutional culture. Engaging in transdisciplinary courses proved formidable, as they offered unique perspectives to foster cultural, religious, linguistic, and plural values, dimensions that the judiciary often encounters and embodies in its decisions.

I firmly support the view that an interdisciplinary or, instead, transdisciplinary approach to study keeps one ahead of the curve, as it intrinsically adds greater value to one’s social awareness, legal acumen and adaptability. It makes one more adept and agile in discovering new ways and means to enrich the legal charter. In essence, the Constitution emerges not only as a legal framework but also as a tool to promote the values of good governance.

5. Much of your work explores the convergence of law and technology. How do you envision technology reshaping the Indian judicial system?

As a devout constitutional scholar and a diligent student of constitutional law, I have always been open to exploring any area of legal development and transformation, given that the Constitution is a dynamic and organic document. I have often reflected on its adaptability in the modern era. The age of the internet has dawned upon us, and the forces of both good and evil it can conjure and perpetuate are increasingly catching our attention. The earliest recognition of this reality was evident in the desire of Indian lawmakers to enact the Information Technology Act, 2000⁵, which established the legal framework for a paperless society. The Information Technology Act, 2000 incorporated everything that could reasonably be comprehended at the time. However, the pace of technological transformation has since accelerated at a rate far faster, indeed, a gazillion times faster, than the ability of legal prescriptions to keep up.

With such rapid progress, I have no hesitation in admitting that legal texts often become insufficient and inefficacious in providing meaningful redress to the challenges posed by technology. Much of this insufficiency stems from the rapid growth of technology. Conceptually, legal texts are designed to endure, and constant revision is alien to the legal culture. Yet, I must add, the same approach is not necessarily proper when defining legal texts in technological times. Amendment power may have to be frequently resorted to if the law is to remain alive, relevant, practical and applicable.

Ultimately, any legal wrong carries inevitable implications under the constitutional sky. It was, therefore, natural to acquaint myself with the consequences for the administration of justice amid the rapid onset of technological development. My research paper in internationally acclaimed journals like Nature and MDPI has analysed the implications of new-age technologies on justice institutions and suggested recommendations warranting a collaborative, unified approach to address challenges as they arise. I have further endeavoured to examine the changing landscape shaped by technology’s near-total engulfing of every facet of our lives. In the face of this staggering reality, to remain in a state of indifference, living in a la-la land detached from this reality, would be a disservice to the constitutional charter. The naked truth is that technology has transformed our understanding of the legal world. If this was ever in doubt, the recent upheaval in Nepal serves as a striking example of how technology has penetrated every corner of the world, and how knee-jerk or unstructured responses to contentious technological issues can plunge society into chaos and turmoil.

In my limited understanding of the issue, a responsible legal system must be open to learning, adapting and growing. Technology is here to stay, and so are its challenges. Its beauty and potential are both stupefying and groundbreaking. The time is ripe to critically assess its possibilities and harness technology as a national asset — ensuring a global presence by pushing the right buttons and incorporating it within statutory limits. At the same time, robust checks and balances must be embedded to arrest technological slippages, excesses and breaches. The truth remains: the operation of technology must be confined within constitutional boundaries. Yet, if appropriately leveraged, its immense potential can be used to plug the loopholes of the legal system and strengthen the delivery of justice. Challenges will undoubtedly present themselves, but the answer lies in a steely legal resolve.

6. You have served as an Assistant Professor of Law at Law College, Dehradun, and also as an Assistant Law Officer at NTPC. How would you compare your experience of academia with the practical rigour of the corporate legal environment?

This is indeed a tantalising and riveting question. There are no easy answers because, in essence, the two streams are as different as apples and oranges. When you are a professor, you talk, you write, you read, you pore over countless hours of study, and then you show up before a packed class of students, ready to field the barrage of curious questions they launch your way. You must be prepared if you wish to stay relevant.

As a professor, you are valued not only for what you achieve but also for the lifelong bonds you create with students and colleagues. Teaching also hones one’s administrative skills, for in today’s time, it is only one part of the job; you are equally expected to don the managerial hat. For a teacher of my temperament, the classroom became a platform to drive change and herald a new dawn through innovative methods aimed at bridging the gap between expectation and reality. Above all, helping a student find their voice and gain their footing in the profession was the most deeply satisfying reward of all. I can say with certainty that in my thirteen months of teaching, I forged lifelong memories and connections and gained an inexhaustible wealth in seeing the students I once taught now making waves in the legal profession. The bond of love and respect we share endures, undiminished by even the longest of distances.

However, when you are the law officer of a company, the stakes are high, and you are expected to speak less and listen more. You are out of left field, as you are first asked and expected to understand the nature of the company’s business and its operations. The theoretical understanding of the law has no significance because you are applying the laws, procedures, and frameworks on the ground. You are changing lives, making significant decisions, forging an inextricable link between judicial institutions and management decision-making, and playing a contributing and decisive role, given your role-playing, in determining the legal journey of the institution at various administrative, judicial, and quasi-judicial forums. You are also singularly responsible for spreading and disseminating legal awareness in the necessary checks and balances that the institutional operations and works demand. This position offers limitless growth opportunities, perhaps when you are driven more by the courage of your convictions and a spirit of growth.

In all fairness, a law teacher at a law college and a law officer at a Maharatna PSU inhabit two entirely different worlds. The stakeholders differ, the objectives underlying the work vary, and the end consumers and their expectations are distinct. Any attempt to draw a direct comparison would therefore be unfair, as the two domains are distinctly apart in conception, operation and scheme. If there is one common thread that interconnects both worlds, it is an individual’s awareness of the legal universe, coupled with the knowledge of law and the skill set they possess. These qualities will always help carve a path to success and overcome obstacles that arise along the way. A well-read law student, empowered by legal awareness and buttressed by conceptual understanding of first principles of law, and with a knack for learning, no matter what, is destined to succeed if the letter of the law remains their guiding force. As one may appreciate, at a growing and evolving Maharatna company, you are confronted with myriad issues and challenges that extend beyond your established competence and learning. Therefore, you must remain open to learning on the job.

7. Public sector undertakings operate at the confluence of commercial efficiency and public accountability. How do you, in your role as a Law Officer at NTPC Ltd., navigate the delicate balance between corporate interests and the obligations of a State-owned enterprise?

Succinctly put, you are a vital cog in the institutional wheel, whose primary function is to ensure that compliance with the governing laws of the land remains the norm and that any departure from it is promptly eschewed. As a public institution, public confidence and accountability are the very sources of your existence, and public welfare remains the company’s foremost guiding principle. Against this backdrop, NTPC Ltd. takes pride in maintaining an impressive record of compliance under all relevant laws, norms and guidelines. To suggest infallibility would be disingenuous: however, as an institution, we constantly learn and grow. Mechanisms are incorporated to identify surface deviations, assess their root causes, and implement remedial measures, thereby strengthening the benefit of experience and enhancing future performance. Honesty and industry represent the pillars of a resilient public company, and being its employee binds you to the salutary objective of discharging enforceable obligations to the fullest extent.

As a law officer, you are confronted with a wide variety of work, specialised, eclectic, and often convoluted, much of which carries immediate and consequential legal ramifications. I must confess that disputes constitute only a small portion of a law officer’s responsibilities. Contracts, being the cornerstone of any successful company, broadly define its success. Their effective execution, coupled with the ability to iron out kinks that inevitably arise due to varying circumstances, requires skilful and pragmatic handling. Ensuring that differences of opinion do not escalate into disputes but are instead resolved through astute judgment and sagacity is the hallmark of effective legal stewardship.

You can also become a force of change by creating and disseminating knowledge in simplified terms, thereby fostering a culture of preventive checks and balances to ward off potential errors. As a law officer, you are, in many ways, also ipso facto a compliance officer. At first blush, you are called upon to immerse yourself in the broad spectrum of laws applicable to your company, keeping in mind the nature of its operations. Since many of these laws are not taught in law schools, you may initially find yourself caught unaware. However, the beauty of law lies in this: if you know the art of reading it, you will naturally begin to master the subject on the job. Beyond this, you are expected to possess the qualities of agility, curiosity, and resilience that will sustain you and fortify the institution in the long run. It is only when you incorporate these attributes that you are ready to take on the rigorous mantle of a law officer.

Disputes in any commercial organisation are inalienable. The notion of a “perfect contract” is a misnomer: as long as human parties execute contracts without divine intervention, disputes will inevitably arise. The naked truth is that how you resolve a dispute is what truly matters. At that point, you are expected to demonstrate consummate skill, legal awareness of rights and responsibilities, and the enforcement of preventive and pre-emptive measures, all to safeguard rights and ensure duties are properly discharged. It is here that one strikes a fine balance between corporate aspirations and corporate obligations. Within any system, there exist key mechanisms, reinforced by institutional experiences and memory, that enable an organisation to find confidence in its ability to navigate choppy waters and emerge victorious. This is what I term institutional wealth. Money is not real wealth: the true wealth of an institution lies in the hard-earned experiences accumulated over time, experiences that teach us that the safest path is often the surest path.

From my own learning, disputes must never be allowed to become manifestations of ego, for every dispute offers an option for resolution. The trajectory of law itself is moving in that direction, and it stands to reason that organisational approaches should align likewise. At this juncture, the law officer emerges as a vital instrument, connecting the past with the present, serving as the keeper of knowledge, the repository of precedents, and the custodian of industry experience. The above encompasses a brief sketch of the remit of duties a law officer is enshrined to discharge.

8. Legal research tools like SCC OnLine have become indispensable for scholars. From your experience, how do such platforms enhance the quality and credibility of academic work?

Legal research platforms, such as SCC OnLine, have become indispensable companions in modern scholarship due to the precision, credibility, and efficiency they bring to research. They consolidate case law, statutory materials, rules, and secondary sources in one place, thereby saving weeks of manual effort. For a scholar, this comprehensiveness ensures that no critical precedent or statutory amendment is overlooked, which directly improves the quality of academic work. Equally important is the credibility and accuracy these platforms provide. SCC OnLine publishes authentic and up-to-date judgments, complete with parallel citations, headnotes, and editorial notes, enabling scholars to cite sources with confidence.

The integrity of its references often determines the quality of academic work, and such platforms ensure that the research is grounded in firm legal authority, making it more persuasive in peer review and scholarly discourse. The advanced search tools and analytical features further enhance the depth of legal research. Functions like Boolean search, topic classification, case reference linking, and “NoteUp” enable a scholar to trace how judgments have been applied or distinguished over time. This allows the identification of evolving judicial trends, understanding the jurisprudential impact of landmark cases, and crafting arguments that are grounded in both precedent and contemporary legal thinking. My doctoral research, as well as numerous research papers, book chapters, and other associated studies, would not have been as sharp, to the point, and germane if I had not known how to use these tools with precision and identified those subtle points that carry the potential to outsmart my counterparts. Good research provides a viewpoint that incorporates a wealth of knowledge, leading to an opinion that is articulate, meticulous, responsible and sincere.

To my mind, the singular most excellent use of these tools is that they help bridge theory with practice. By providing access to the latest judgments and comparative legal materials, SCC OnLine ensures that academic contributions are relevant to ongoing debates in law and policy. In doing so, they transform research from being merely descriptive into something insightful and impactful. As a legal scholar, knowing the best ways and methods to use these tools helps refine and produce high-quality research. Through these tools, you are exposed to those hidden pieces of the puzzle that would have otherwise escaped your attention, but for the insights these tools offer, enriching the research quality produced when using them. This not only improves the timeliness of their work but also enhances its credibility and scholarly value.

9. Finally, as someone deeply rooted in both professional practice and academic research, what is your vision for the next generation of Indian lawyers?

I would rather reframe this question to share my insights with the coming crop of law students and legal professionals alike, regardless of the assignments they may undertake in the future. Learn, fail, amend and grow. Throw yourself into spaces that challenge you, push you to acknowledge difficulties, confront your fears, and discover ways to grow: that is the way forward. Law school is the one place where you are given the freedom to win over your fears, make as many mistakes as possible, and endure those moments when you think you will be exposed to ridicule, derision or humiliation. Let me tell every reader, with utmost gentility and politeness: you best serve yourself when you break free from imaginary shackles and walk out of the prison of your own thoughts.

The world is your oyster. But to stand out amid an ever-growing pack of law graduates, you must invest in yourself, earn your stripes, validate your journey, and nurture the confidence to walk into any room and stand your ground. Build the power of belief and let the reassurance of your belief system strengthen you. This happens when you write research papers, participate in moot courts, organise events, intern at places that align with your interests and propensities, and build industry connections that recognise your enduring spirit and undying conviction. If you have done all this, it means you have failed countless times but also dared to rise each time, becoming the unabashed and incomparable you. And that, ultimately, is the gateway to your moment of reckoning in the profession.

I would also like to state two sayings, “there is never too late to begin”, and “the foundation of your success is rooted in your resolve to overcome your mediocrity”. We all learn along the way: however, many of us find ourselves entrapped in the vicious cycle of procrastination. We become far too comfortable pushing things to tomorrow, hesitating to break a sweat, or perhaps deluding ourselves into believing that we are simply waiting for the right opportunity to present itself magically. No miracles are happening unless you are sowing the seeds and planting the sapling nurtured and promoted by your hard-earned efforts. The truth is that opportunities never just come: you knock the door down with grit, resilience and effort, and align your actions with your vision of tomorrow.

I hope we all strive to become action-oriented learners, because while we wait for opportunities, someone else is already breaking down that very door and earning their rightful place in the profession. I exhort everyone to read more, to become a better version of themselves, and to surprise themselves by achieving what they never thought possible. When you do that, your self-concept will shout from the rooftops, singing praises of the undaunted courage you displayed in your own favour, forging your way for a robust tomorrow.