An endeavour to excel

Apprehensions did not deter him from taking up challenging leap and the mighty ventures to handle terrorist cases in the initial stages of his career.KTSTulsi’s audacity and undulating courage was discernible in an array of criminal cases ranging from KPS Gill to the Uphaar tragedy, Bhullar, Shillong fake encounter cases, to name a few.  Ever since he started practicing as an Advocate in 1971, Tulsi seized every opportunity to scale heights through hard work. “I came into the legal fraternity by sheer accident. My friend ML Sarin and I were champions in debates and a judge’s remark that students at the Annual Moot functions were better than 90% lawyers became a turning point in our lives. We tore up our admit cards for Civil Services exam and took up law.”  The duo joined Sarin’s father Mr.HarbhansLalSarin, a leading lawyer in Chandigarh. “We drafted the grounds for appeal for 3-4 cases every day and prepared notes for the next day cases. Both of us were enchanted with the enormous amount of work and learnt a great deal. He gave us a solid foundation and Rs.50 every week.After 7 months of exposure, I decided to swim on my own, though my friend advised me against it. I told him that if I have to fail, I might as well fail now, rather than spend half my life and realize I can’t succeed.”  He continued, “There were very few cases then and we were paid Rs.32 to argue a bail application for Advocate General. I got some cases and perchance married the daughter of an Allahabad High Court judge. With adequate time and wife’s encouragement, I started a law journal titled ‘Chandigarh Short Notes.’ I could not afford to buy judgments and borrowed files from the Bar after its closure in the evening, to return it the next day morning. I read more than 100 judgments in the night and dictated the head notes to my stenographer at dawn.SushmaSwaraj was the Associate Editor, besides another friend KS Grewal. I owe my good luck to this journal,where as Managing Editor, I learnt to analyse facts, apply law and know the judge’s mind after being exposed to thousandsof judgments.”  Tulsi was also apart time lecturer with the Law department in Punjab University. “Financially, Rs.400 helped me, besides giving a huge opportunity to develop felicity of tongue, comprehension. Within three years, the journal created an indelible impact, that the Chief Justice wanted me as Reporter for ‘Indian Law Report’, the official report of the High Court. With Rs.250 in tow, I closed my journal to avoid conflict of interest.”  Recalling his legal journey, he said.“I argued for a State against the anticipatory bail of an accused, who was alleged to have fraudulently replaced food grains with stones. My father’s lawyer friend told me to take care of the accused, as he was his nephew. The fact that he dared to strike a compromise with me annoyed me. I knew a judgment by a full bench of the High Court, which was delivered just 4 days ago. I cited the judgment and opposed the bail which got immediately rejected. Later, when that lawyer met me, he said “You prove to be not less than your father and practiced your entire advocacy on me. It was a good compliment being compared to my father, the Assistant Advocate General.”  Another turning point was when Delhi lawyer OC Mathur discussed a criminal complaint filed against Lipton’s chairman. “He queried if I had requisite experience and if it was a good case to quash it. To his shock, I narrated all the judgments as I was a Reporter. He made me draft the petition and showed it to one of the topmost criminal lawyer in Kolkata, who after seeing the petition desired to meet me. He told me it was very well drafted but what was more important in criminal law was not ‘what to say’ but ‘what not to say’. His analysis of the law was an eye opener to me,” Tulsi said.  Subsequently, came the encounter with the Managing Director of Eastern Law House which culminated in a book on ‘Accident Claim Cases’. I desired to teach and write a book on par with my favourite world class books ‘American Jurisprudence’ and ‘CorpusJurisSecundum’and adopt its analysis and sub-analysis techniques. I loved the manuscript that was published in 1977 and got a royalty of Rs.27,000. It was like king’s ransom and I purchased my first Standard Gazel car.”  Another landmark was a call from his Professor, informing that KPS Gill wanted to meet him. His formidable approach and keen observation was discernible. “There were some criminal cases filed against Gill in Assam and lawyers were unwilling to represent him. Guwahati High Court refused his anticipatory bail and he had to challenge the order in the Supreme Court and file a petition for quashing the complaints. I was 32 years old and told him that his petition, which had been drafted by a former High Court judge, had not raised the correct grounds and would be dismissed. Law under Section 197 was well settled, but the petition had not discussed the principle from Bhagwan Prasad Srivastava up to now. After two months,Gill’s father wanted me in Guwahati as the petition was dismissed.”  Money was no longer a constraint for Tulsi. “Lipton spared me Rs.1100 per day and Gill doubled my fees. I ventured out to Assam and won all the cases raised from the agitation due to Assam GanaParishad. I returned to Chandigarh and accepted certain high profile cases and was appointed Special Prosecutor for prosecution of terrorists in 1986. I became Additional Solicitor General in 1990 and got an opportunity to argue before 10 constitutional benches. Once you are on the national scene you can’t be ignored, that is story of my life.”  High fees and Advocates are synonymous with each other. “I received much more than I deserve from this profession. I believe our fee is abnormally high which makes me very guilty. Nevertheless, to ensure we don’t drown in work, we increase our fees. With steep hike, there is a danger that the criminal justice or justice system will be out of reach of common man. The need of the hour is to provide extensive social security to each Bar member, besides medical and life insurance, reasonable house and workplace. Why can’t the government fund this private profession like schools and colleges? Is justice any less important than education? To ensure justice, we need comprehensive social security schemes at the national and state level for lawyers for minimum 5 years. As a return favour, lawyers can serve in rural areas. Only then will justice remain relevant and vibrant.”  Tulsi clarified his stance in some famous cases.“Shillong case was completely misunderstood and someone wanted to make political capital out of it. The deceased had led the jail break and his body was handed over to his parents,after post-mortem. The Superintendent of Police and others who fired in exchange of fire, admitted he was killed in the encounter. The post-mortem cuts and stitches in the dead body were propagated as injuries caused in the encounter. The commission’s report says that the whole sequel was misrepresented for personal political gains and huge amounts paid. This was my eighth commission in Meghalaya.”  On Uphaar tragedy case, he said, “In the criminal case, the conviction was upheld and the only difference of opinion between the two judges, was regarding the quantum of sentence. One of the judges wanted the sentence to be enhanced while the other wanted to maintain the same sentence. So the three judge bench will finally decide on the quantum of sentence.”  As regards Vadra’s case, “I have never met Robert Vadra and they never approached me. I don’t talk to media except in cases like Bhullar, where justice was done. What is criminal about Vadra purchasing and selling some property at a profit? Sale is transfer of ownership for consideration paid or promised or partly paid and partly promised. So, even if the entire consideration was only promised, it does not cease to be a valid sale, but the mutation wascancelled, as he had not paid the money. Khemka only has to record the transaction.He has picked this case to challenge his transfer, which in fact, was done prior to his interference in Vadra’s deals. It was gross misconduct on the part of this officer, and an enquiry was conducted,” he concluded.  Â

Author Name: Premila Krishnan