“Guru-Shisya Parampara as is still in vogue in music field is also most suitable in legal field.” says Hon’ble Justice D.M. Dharmadhikari, Former Judge

Justice D.M. Dharmadhikari holds an M.A. (English) and has also graduated in law with a First Class. He started legal practice in 1966-67 with his father Advocate Shri M. T. Dharmadhikari at Betul...

Later, he shifted to Jabalpur in 1967-68 and started practicing in High Court under the guidance of Senior Advocate and Advocate General Mr. Dharmadhikari and established his independent position as a leading lawyer. Justice D.M. Dharmadhikari was appointed as Additional Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on 24/03/1989. He was also appointed as Permanent Judge of that High Court on 27/07/1990, followed as Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court on 25/01/2000. He was also appointed as Judge of Supreme Court of India on 05/03/2002 and retired on 14/08/2005 (F.N.)

Legal Era (LE): Tell us about your illustrious journey. Was law always your passion or you developed advocacy skills from your family.What was the most crucial stage in your legal career?

Justice D.M. Dharmadhikari (D.D.): I had repeated failures in college education in the science branch. Then I decided to take up English Literature for my Post Graduation as it was my favourite subject. At that time my father advised me to also join Law for LL.B. Degree. I wanted to try for a teaching job after my MA in English but when in 1st Law Examination in Indore University, I was 3rd in rank. On the advice of my father, I took a final decision to join Law Practice. I joined my father to gain experience of trial work and then shifted to High Court to practice at Jabalpur.

The most crucial stage in my legal career was when my cushion and my senior Late Y.S. Dharmadhikari became Advocate General of Madhya Pradesh and left the entire field of private practice to me. I had only 4 years practice then but could make an early head way and was soon recognized as a successful lawyer.

LE: If you compare your earlier days of law with students of law and upcoming lawyers today, what is the difference you find? If there is something they can emulate from your generation, what should it be? Similarly, if you were asked, what you would like to pick up from the present generation, what would it be?

D.D.: There is a great difference between Law Student of today and our times. We had part-time Law Courses. We in fact learnt law only when joined Bar for legal practice. The law students of today get better legal education with full time law courses and comprehensive syllabus. The National Law Institutes and Five Year Law Courses have improved legal education so much that it is now a preferred career in competition with Medical, Engg. and Administrative Services.

Present generations of lawyers are far ahead of us in knowledge which they can easily acquire on computer from all over the world. From our generation, they should learn to choose a good, competent and ethically honest legal luminary as their guide and mentor to take benefits of his knowledge and experience.