"Law is an ass, majority of lawyers are cheats. What a cocktail is this? Are judges the medicine?" This is not the topic for a debate on primetime news television, but rather a question that final year law students at Mumbai's Government Law College are expected to answer. The question was part of the question paper for the 'Drafting, Pleading and Conveyancing' subject, held on March 16.
Students who appeared for the exam, as also many in the law fraternity, were shocked to read this. Head of the law department at Mumbai University, Rajeshri Varhadi, refused to comment. However, another professor said, "Questions like this shouldn't be included in the exam paper. They give out a wrong impression regarding advocates. Also, most of the students who are taking this exam will go on to become lawyers in the future. Questions should match the discipline regarding the usage of words that are followed in actual courtrooms."
Meanwhile, Sandeep Kedare, who works as an advocate and is the executive president of the Republican Bahujan Vidyarthi Parishad, has decided to file an official complaint with the college and the university.
Kedare, who had originally raised the issue, said, "This is demeaning advocates, and will create a confusion in the minds of law students regarding whether or not they should pursue this career, since their exam paper has termed lawyers as cheats. How can a question like this go unnoticed by the supervisors as well? There is a need of accountability all around. Those who are accountable must be held responsible for this mistake."
Ashok Yende, former head of department of law at Mumbai University, said, "This is an out of syllabus question, and these are unparliamentary words. Such questions shouldn't be asked in an exam."
When contacted, Suvarna Keole, district judge and principal of GLC, refused to comment on the issue.
THE QUESTION IN QUESTION
- Students were asked to explain, in not more than seven lines, if ‘Law is an ass, lawyers are cheats’
- Experts have said a majority of the students will become lawyers and such questions will prejudice them
