The Bar Council of India’s (BCI) chairman Manan Kumar Mishra has responded to our request for comment on the news that the BCI had again amended bylaws to prescribe law schools to buy the All India Reporter’s (AIR) products, despite protests from vice chancellors and having agreed two years ago that such a requirement to buy from a single vendor was unfair.
On 31 May, we had sent the following email to Mishra:
From: Prachi Shrivastava
Subject: All India Reporter
To: Manan Kumar Mishra
Cc: Kian Ganz
Date: 31 May 2016 2:27PMDear Mr Mishra
Could you comment on the BCI's resolution deciding to prescribe using the All India Reporter's products to law schools?
Best regards,
Prachi
We published that news story more than three hours later, headlined Why does BCI keep pimping multi-lakh AIR packages to colleges by amending bylaws, despite VC resistance? A truly excellent question…, without a comment from Mishra, having received no response from him.
This was consistent with several other recent times that Mishra has not responded to our requests for comment on various news stories relating to the BCI and to Mishra.
However, to our surprise, late yesterday, we received the following email response from Mishra (unedited, sic, etc, as applicable, hyperlinks added by us):
From: Manan Kumar Mishra
Subject: Re: All India Reporter
To: Prachi Shrivastava
Date: 1 June 2016 10:42PMWho are you ? First tell me , only then I'll be in a position to say anything. If you are the same lady who had come in the premises of BCI along with that foreign national & had created ugly scene by hurling abusive language against the staff and manhandled them. If it is same Legally India which is selling some guess-paper for All India Bar Exam. on a huge price cheating the examinees , if it is same Legally India which is involved in misuse of its license ( u did not supply the copy of ur license granted by Indian Govt. to us even after our request to that effect) by publishing all sorts of baseless things against BCI for laying undue & unsuccessful pressure in order to secure work of conducting AIBE to the part of legally India ie. M/s Rainmaker ; if u are the same who had proposed for inclusion of some Law Book relating to Taxation matter in the curriculum of Law Institutions ; then we are not going to entertain you or your so called media at all. BCI is a statutory autonomous body , it does not require your or that foreigners permission to include any book or material in the syllabus of Law Institutions. One thing more , the tenure of contract with M/s Ites Horizon has now expired , if you have accepted the brief of some agency again for the coming tender and you have in your mind that by committing nuisance or making some sorts of baseless comments you will succeed in pressuring , tell your foreign fellow , it's Bar Council Of India not of a foreign country. Here things are done fully in accordance with law. Decisions are taken after thorough consideration . The decision with regard to AIR has also been taken after consideration by a High Level body of BCI. Moreover it is the prerogative of the Council to take such decisions.
The Legal Education Committee examines minimum Library requirements for an Institution . It has decided that materials of AIR electronic & other ,Central Acts , Local Acts , SCC , Corporate Law Advisor , Company Cases Indian Bar Review & other journals are the minimum requirements . AIR is the oldest Law Journal covering all the High Corts. E- library is one of the requirement for every law institution . We are sorry to say that we can't prescribe the study material of legally India for the institutions. Yours is simply a guess paper ; no scope . If you or some of your other friends have a good book or journal for the students of Law , you or he may also apply & present the book / journal before BCI or LEC and if found fit it can be included. It does not require any tender or advertisement . I hope you will fully understand the things , And you shall refrain yourself from repeating your mischiefs against BCI. Thanks & sorry for the harsh words used, But what can I do you & your foreign national has always been involved in unnecessarily criticising BCI on the issue of AIBE. Even you crossed all your limits on the day the matter was listed before Honb'le Supreme Court. You tried to dictate the Court as to what the Honb'ble Judges should ask ! You should have thought that it was a contempt under Indian Law. But your foreign friend is probably knowing only the law of his own country. Learn journalism & the law of India , how to behave with Honb'ble Court here.
Can you draft a suitable response to the BCI chairman? Win a prize!
Please post it in the comments.
The entry adjudged as best (by reader votes and generally accepted standards of quality), in our absolute and unfettered prerogative, not unlike the BCI’s to award contracts and product endorsements, will be sent by us to the BCI chairman and published on Legally India, and will also win a 12 month Partner Subscription to Legally India worth Rs 8,599 (see below to sign up if you can’t wait that long).
Entries must be grammatically and legally correct.
For the winner to anonymously claim their prize, we will request the winner (after selection) to email us in their own name or to create an anonymous Gmail account to receive their subscriber perks and newsletters on. We will provide instructions and more details on how you can set up the account to secretly forward to your personal account at the time of the award.
Full Disclosure: Mishra had sent a legal notice to Legally India on 25 May 2015 about our reporting of discrepancies in the tender, alleging defamation of the BCI; Legally India replied to Mishra on 8 June with a 40-page rebuttal letter (download) running to 200 pages including annexures (download); We have received no response from Mishra to any of the questions it raised.
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Still waiting for entries though, otherwise we won't be able to respond!
Pun intended?
It's a great move. Now let's come together and fight against this [...] person Manan Kumar Mishra.
It broke my heart to read your response. In this day and time of Modi ji's attempt at winning the hearts of us foreign fellow(s), you could not even say hello.
Putting courtesy aside , Misra Ji, I thank you deeply, for making me think about the existential question of who am I? Where am I going? What am I doing? What is the meaning of my life? What is it Misra Ji, what do you think it is. Misra Ji, I think you have it all figured. How do you do it Misra Ji? You do as you please, you don't feel accountable to anyone, you prescribe whatever education material you wish, you award the tender to whoever you want, you conduct tests at will, you're fearless. It’s a a pity that you’re not the Supreme Leader of North Korea. You would make a great Green Lantern. You got Free Will like a boss! I like it! Do you also keep mountain dew cans in the BCI freezer?
Misra Ji, it is the Flash and not Green lantern that can reverse time. You said AIR is the oldest law journal in India. AIR was found in 1922, whereas MLJ has been in print since 1891. May be it’s some BC-AD mumbo jumbo us foreign fellows don’t understand.
Misra Ji, I suspect there is an imposter 'legally India' out there. I request for your help in finding this lady and this other foreign man. I am also from foreign, and despite that he stabs me in the back and sets up another legally India? Misra Ji, can you tell me, how can people be this bad. Whatever happened to foreign foreign bhai bhai.
I must confess, I am envious of my own impersonator. How audaciously stupid they must be to have abused and genderneutral-personhandle the staff of the mighty BCI in its own camp of the Philistines. I suspect they stole some cans of mountain dew from the BCI fridge earlier. Misra Ji, are you sure that all foreigners don’t look alike to you? That would make you racist you know, right? #whitelivesmatter.
Racism aside, could you send me the minutes of the meeting of the 'High Level Body of BCI' on basis of which the decision regarding AIR was taken? I want to send it back home to Foreign, so that they learn ‘How to take decisions and Win Friends’. Let those Honky Charlies learn from the BCI.
Misra ji, who am I, I am just a Gas paper, and you need to get some ENO.
- AetuKikiyaGanz
""[Editor’s note: We have been learned...]"
Mr M K Misraji, Sirji - have you finally infaltrated this phoren phellow's gas interweb guess paper ? Now you also can do mischiefs to them !! Congrats !!!
I thank you for your response. Not only it does not answer our questions, but it itself raises questions and gives answers. Though you question our identity, but your response seems that you very well know who we are. Whats the point in the rhetoric! Instead of questioning our identity, its better to respond to the question which is of immense public importance, particularly given the past cases of corruption involving BCI and approval to law colleges. What authority BCI has to prescrive any particular publisher? None at all. Best BCI can do is prescribe a particular number journals covering different subjects. Given the current situation, much of case laws is available online without need of journals! Is BCI concerend about the libraries being ornamemtal or BCI is concerned with actual standards? Next I anticipate is BCI prescribing mandatorily students buying particular publishers or particular journals. Can this be forced upon the colleges or students in the guise of standards? Certainly not! And if it is, most definitely something is fishy about it, which need not be stated in words.
Moreover, how does it matter even if such genuine issues are raised by a foreigner, presumably. You have no authority to term one as a foreigner, and as stated by you, you being an "autonomous statutory body" are accountable and answerable to one and all, so stop making it a prestige issue and come clean on the matter by giving credible and a definite reply instead of making personal attacks on the persons raising the issue. Behold, such replies are leading to adverse impression and presumption against BCI. What I further wonder is what made you sit tight over the reply of legallyindia to your legal notice? Did not you have any reply?
Coming to your allegation about selling materials for AIBE, you are the statutory and autonomous authority, ban it! What exam in India does not have a market for preparatory materials and what is wrong in it!It seems BCI, when questioned, particularly you, take things personally, instead of coming clean in the matter. You are duty bound in law to be accountable and such accountability in this matter is your detailed response instead of beating around the bush with personalized and meaningless comments. Just to clarify, your response only seems to indicate that you are acting in a most autocratic manner forgetting that BCI is a public body and hence is ought to be questioned, which has to face such questions.
Another aspect of the matter is that why such decisions about prescribing journals unilaterally taken by BCI without discussions or inviting the views of the concerned colleges or universities? Is BCI so sceptical that a law college would not even have AIR in its library? Then mandatory prescription of journals wont help, what will help is shutting down such colleges.
We are all aware the manner in which BCI has failed to achieve quality in legal education by exercising its control over such colleges, instead BCI is more concerned it seems about all the peripheries like mandatorily presribing journals. BCI should next also mandatorily prescribe that law students have to mandatorily spend so many hours reading a particular journal and so on.
BCI should understand the concerns raised by legallyindia in its true perspective rather than Mr Mishra taking the issue personally.BCI instead of questioning the credibility of legallyindia should first come out clean by making its processes and decisions democratic and transparent.
Lastly, how can a committee of BCI decide which will be the best books or journals! Should not such a decision also involve academicians and the faculty??
There are so many aspects of the issue, which BCI should consider in a positive manner vide the concerns raised by legallyindia instead of making it a prestige issue.
I am hopeful Mr. Mishra will undertand that it is not pertinent as to whether a phoren phellow is raising questions, what is pertinent is that such questions are being raised, hence they should be answered. Mr Mishra or for that matter BCI have no authority to question the locus of the questioner, for, as stated by Mr Mishr and as a matter of fact- BCI IS AN AUTONOMOUS AND STATUTORY BODY! Thankfully, not governed by foreign law, else it would have been in serious muddle by now.
Regards
A lawyer
PS- Lawyers often wonder has BCI done any good for the lawyers or the legal fraternity till date but to create more procedural jargons! BCI should learn from other bodies like MCI/DCI who tooth and nail support their bretherans..and fight for them..
Mishra Ji,
What i forgot to mention in my response was what license you wanted to see? License to ask questions? Or any other license, sir? Atleast from you it was expected that the demand would be particular, after all you are autonomous statutory body....
Can you please respond to my comment with a random secret codeword or two from the same IP as your original comment? (like 'potato puree', or 'winged batmonkey'). We won't publish your response but will use it so you can identify yourself to claim the subscription, if you win. :)
"Dear Mr. Winged Batmonkey,
I refer to your potato puree... "
well, you get the idea. I will show myself out.
Kiang,you are playing with fire!
Does BCI have no compunctions about their public perception?
Quote:
www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mag/2002/03/03/stories/2002030300020300.htm
Who are you? First tell me, only then I'll be in a position to say anything. If you are the same gentleman who is the Chairman of a statutory, autonomous Bar Council of India, then believe me I have nothing personal against you.
Is it your fault if you were made the Chairman of India’s Bar Council? Of course not. Those who blame you are missing the forest for the trees.
Please see my point. Now I'm an iliiterate sweeper who only knows how to sweep the floors of BCI office. (Even this letter is being typed by a professional typist whose services I outsourced for a cheap price. I suggest you too may try this as Chairman.)
Anyway, coming back to the point. Now tomorrow if they choose me, a low class, illiterate sweeper, as the Chairman of BCI, that statutory, autonomous, powerful, awe-inspiring national organization -- will it be my fault?
I mean I can fulfil the minimum qualifications, and arrange to have a degree in law from one of the thousands of C-grade law colleges that have the BCI's blessings to operate. And if they don't admit me, I may even try to go the Munnabhai way as some ministers do.
The larger point, I reiterate, is that it is completely wrong to blame you for anything you do as Chairman. You will only do what you are capable of doing. Back in my village, a sweeper is expected to sweep, that's all.
The village elders know this by common sense. They will never let me become anything but a sweeper. In the last 5,000 years nobody in my ancestry has become anything but a sweeper. Even when I migrated to the capital, I knew I will never become anything but a sweeper.
Yes, the capital does give me its own special perks. For instance, it has lifts to uplift my stature. I go back to the village sometimes and describe to them how a lift works. Poor fools, they don't get it. In my village, they don't even know how electricity works.
Finally, Chairman saab, here's my two cents of lowly advice. Don't let that foreign national turn you into a frustrated angry bird. He has got the better of you.
You are a respectable man who still called him only a foreign national. Otherwise these days the trending word is "anti-national."
I do understand your sentiment against foreign nationals and foreign firms. But instead of heaping accusations, why don't you sue that foreign invader Ghazni (affectionately called Ganz)?
Or, if the Chairman of the statutory, autonomous BCI is reluctant to take legal recourse, what about the common man... say, a sweeper?
Warm hugs from one Chairman to another,
Chairman of the Sweepers Council of India
Who am I?
I might be a foreign national, but I am also the editor and founder of Legally India (“LI”). It is a private company incorporated in India. Legally speaking, LI does not owe as many obligations to the law fraternity in India as ‘your’ autonomous and statutory body (the Bar Council of India) does.
Yet, I have done more for this fraternity as the editor of LI than you’ve in your capacity as the Chairman of BCI. LI brings to law students news from other law schools (mooting exploits, student representation, recruitment stats, et al.) and helps them in analysing their position vis-à-vis other law students in other law schools so that they can work towards improving themselves and making their own law school prouder.
LI has also informed them about the BCI’s recommendations such as those regarding dress codes for law students and those regarding mandatory subscription of AIR. Regardless of law school rivalries, one and all thought that they were ridiculous and, perhaps, borderline draconian, to say the least. At a time when law schools such as NUJS and NUALS struggle for funds and all others have many more pressing issues, both academic and otherwise, all BCI does for them is come up with such thought-provoking decisions.
LI brings to aspiring and young lawyers news about all the most sought after firms. It thereby triggers the kind of positive discourse that helps them in making better and more informed career choices. It also brings to them tough questions about its representatives sitting in the BCI office. When youngsters who are fresh out of law school and keen to defend India’s constitution see that the Chairman of their representative body has been called out by a forum run by a foreign fellow for handing out second grade treatment to sweepers at workplace, it doesn’t reflect very well on how the Bar Council of India functions.
LI is about transparency. LI is about honest journalism and reporting. I’d recommend you to make amends and start visiting LI regularly to understand what LI is about. It can help you, for instance, by providing you access to news related to lawyers, law firms, law schools, et al. All this information might come in handy for you and help you in discharging your duties as the Chairman of BCI in a better way.
But instead of appreciating the honest intentions of LI and using LI to better discharge your duties, you’ve yet again alleged us of being the same as “M/s. Rainmaker” and yet again attributed oblique motives to our quest of transparency. We had given you a clear point-to-point response about exactly one year back. Kindly refer to page 6 and respond whenever you are not busy signing ridiculous orders and passing arbitrary resolutions.
I’d also recommend you to visit LI for the user comments which are featured on its posts. Even though we do weed out some comments which are abusive, there is mostly no editorial control. You wouldn’t believe it, but this response was actually selected in an open online comments contest here and was on LI even before I sent it to you.
Even though I personally preferred comment 12 since it sounded more like me, I thought the sarcasm was a little too subtle for your liking. Hence, with the intention of making this interaction between us meaningful, I opted for this (comment 19). See, this is how open contests and tenders should work. Now AetuKikiyaGanz will know exactly why I opted for LawSchoolPolitician’s comment instead of his comment.
This is meant to teach you the importance of not only (a) transparency, but also that of (b) objectivity in decision-making. Even if you do possess the latter, we (at LI) have struggled to put it out to our readers due to an evident lack of the former. To be honest, we had a conversation, you seemed to lack both of them.
If you were to publish minutes of your board meetings, students of law schools might be able to empathise with the BCI’s reasoning for pushing for mandatory subscription of AIR and recommending dress codes. Actually, I don’t think they would.
But then again, who am I?
Cartloads of love,
The same foreign fellow,
(on behalf of abusive Prachi and mischievous LI).
Hyperlinked version available at drive.google.com/file/d/0BzFsdOLuXlw-Uk5jbzUtMmc0QlE/view?ts=575345c2
And some of your words really warmed our hearts. Seriously, you guys are the most awesome readership any website, legal or otherwise, could ever hope for!
Lots of love,
Kian & Prachi
I could not come up with a reply, but wrote a parody instead. You need to be a Hindi film buff to understand it in its entirety. Does it qualify? Anyway, here goes:
[Kian and Prachi are in office, finalizing their next story. Meanwhile, our friend sends three trusted staff members to LI’s office demanding a copy of Kian’s license. The three reach LI’s office with a demand letter threatening the foreign fellow that he will be “sued in cort if license is not given." Kian shows them a copy of his International Driving License, but refuses to give a copy. As politely as he can, he tells them to take the demand letter and shove it where the sun does not shine.
The three return to the BCI office (no – they don’t use the lift). Following is the scene that transpired inside.]
“How many mans were there?”
“Two, Chairman, two.”
“They Two – you three? You little pigs. Do you know who he is? He comes from foreign land and dictates order to our supreme cort. He comes from foreign land and sells guess paper and cheats examinees without my permission. He comes from foreign land into our office and manhandles you and me by using abusive language. He comes from foreign land and commits nuisance in BCI office after putting lot of pressure. He is doing so much mischief in our country. You did not take copy even after he showed you his license? You returned empty handed? What did you think? That kursi aadmi will be happy? He will give you prize?”
[Our friend asks his crony to hand over his gun to him. Crony, sensibly empties three bullets and hands over gun to Chairman]
“How many marbles are inside?”
“Six, Chairman. Six marbles.”
“Six marbles, three mans. This is just like cort justice. But this is not cort. This is my office.”
[Goes to the window - bang bang bang - shoots three bullets in the air.]
[goes to first person, aims gun on his temple and pulls trigger] . . . . “click”
“Brother in law! Got saved.”
[goes to second person, aims gun on his temple and pulls trigger] . . . “click”
“Brother in laaaw!! He too got saved.”
[goes to third person and aims gun on his temple]
“And you, Blackie. You were the one who spoke to foreign fellow. What did he tell you?”
“Chairman, he told me that he finds you a driveling galoot. You will not gain anything by infiltrating your proboscis into his undertakings. Upbraiding a professional for his bonafide journalistic pursuits is a futile endeavor, worthy of a condign castigation. Your diatribe, which seems to be inspired by tragic Melpomene, or perhaps comedic Thalia, is of picayune patois.”
[gives him a long hard stare ] . . . “chal be.”
[after a long silence] “Abe, if you can talk like this,. . . you also can join one of those suit boot law firms. What are their names – Ghee Shakkar & Assosates, Lutera & Lutera, Ajeebi & Porters . . . go join them. Why are you rubbing your backside on BCI chair everyday?”
“Chairman, I have consumed your sodium chloride.”
“huh? Don’t talk in Chemistry language. You are talking like foreign fellow. Talk in English.”
“Chairman, I have eaten your salt.”
“Aaahh, okay. No problem. I will release tender and ensure that ITES wins. They will supply all the salt I need. No problem if you have eaten a bit of it? By the way, how was it? Was it too sweet?”
“No Chairman, very bitter.”
“Okay, now eat my marble too.”
. . . . . [Slowly pulls trigger. Deafening silence, followed by “click.’]
“Brother in law!!! This mans too got saved. Long live our Bar Council”
[laughter and claps all around].
Please, everyone who's made a submission but who hasn't yet shared two secret words in an unpublished response, would be great if you could do so. Due to the quality of submissions, we might have to give out more than one prize (and send the chairman more than one response)...
Just stumbled upon it. If yes let me know and I am even ready to make it an official reply cum notice and send under my letterhead.
We think we may reply by end of this week, subject to events, etc.
I am unable to express my shock and surprise to your mail or rather the contents thereof since it must be not less than 10 times that I actually tried to confirm for myself that the above mail had come from a civilized individual, much less a lawyer or for that matter the chairman of the bar council of India himself. I would however like to believe that your email id was hacked by someone bent upon to create rifts between us by sending such an uncultured and ill-mannered communication to me and malign you. In fact sir, I am sure it can’t be you who has the above mail to me. I would however sir, like to respond to the above mail for the sake of propriety and do understand sir, this mail though addressed to you, is intended to the scoundrel who has apparently hacked your account, outlining, as to how I could make out that, your account has been hacked thereby foiling his attempt.
Coming to the first three sentences, I am sure sir, you or for that matter, any lawyer worth his salt would ever respond to an official communication in such a manner. the hacker probably wants me to conclude that you too are one of the many fake lawyers around by thus starting a letter. The use of “that foreign national”, “created ugly scene by hurling abusive language against the staff and manhandled them” shows the baseness of the hackers wisdom since he feels that even if I did something like that in your place, I could go away scot-free without facing a police complaint. The hacker probably though that I will address you as a liar or a foolish crook thinking that you are the one who wrote this.
Similarly, “selling some guess paper on a huge price…….” The limited education of the writer sparkles out from the entire writing which once again proves that it is not of a person of your stature, much less a lawyer but of a rank hacker who only knows to hack into email accounts of people like you.
That stupid hacker doesn’t even know that if there was any instance of misuse of our license, your good offices are able enough to cut us to size or at least to inform the concerned authorities for the same. He even has the temerity to call our actions baseless things for putting pressure perhaps not knowing that you had the ability to rise like a phoenix and disprove all our claims by laying out facts on the table we say and at the time we say and prove us wrong in a civilized manner.
The hacker further forgot the fact that had we accepted the brief of some agency, which your good self very well knows that we wont and we cant; this is not the manner that we would have dealt with your good offices (not you) since we very well know that you are not at all prone to such tactics.
Again by the use of the phrase “here things are done fully in accordance with law” the hacker wanted us to further point fingers at you and ask when was the last time, things there were done in accordance with law, much less, fully in accordance with law. The hacker further wanted us to ask you as to the object and meaning of the word consideration; whether it was money or something else. But since we are fully convinced that the above is a handiwork of a hacker, we do not put these questions to you.
We would have asked the sanctity of the legal education committee and their criterion of examining the minimum library requirements for an institution that goes on to prescribe the AIR but for the fact that the above mail is apparently not written by you. We would have even stated that with the advent on the internet and with sites like Indian Kanoon, commonlii.org and the websites of the various High Courts and Supreme Court, there was no requirement for the alleged products of AIR. We would have even raked up the issue about the notification following after the 50 years celebration which was more of a publicity measure undertaken by AIR but for the fact that the above mail is not written by you.
Furthermore, even the dumbest person would know that Legally India or its subsidiaries has got no study materials for these institutions and that even otherwise, it would have been our right to have an equal opportunity to have the same prescribed if it is up to the mark.
Again, we are sure you would have never commented upon our conduct in the supreme court or that the same amounted to contempt under Indian law since any lawyer would know that it wasn’t.
So, Sir, once again, nothing against you but to the hacker who has sent the above mail for I am sure he still must be having access to you email account. I hope that you are aware about it and also filed a complaint against the said hacker.
Yours truly,
Prachi Shrivastava.
N.B.: In case, the above mail was indeed written by you sir then kindly ignore the contents hereof since the same is not intended to you but for the hacker who supposedly sent it to us.
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