Singhvi et al: Are they politicians first or lawyers?

GN Bureau | October 5, 2010



Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is a Congress spokesperson as well as lawyer, has withdrawn from a case in the Kerala High Court, in which he was representing a lottery distributor charged with irregularities. His move came after pressure from the party leadership.

This is not a one-off incident. More and more lawyers are getting into politics. Both the Congress and BJP have a battery of lawyers holding key organisational posts. As they also continue their law practice, a “clash of interests” is not rare. Home minister P Chidambaram reportedly represented Vedanta before the Bombay High Court in 2003. While as lawyer, he is not expected to take a moral position, as a political leader he would be. Arun Jaitley was criticised when in 2005 he decided to represent Ketan Parekh, the alleged stock market manipulator – more so because he represented Gujarat in the Rajya Sabha and the investors in the state had lost millions in the scam.

So, should we expect lawyers-turned-politicians to behave as politicians first or as lawyers when they are practising law?

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