On Mercy-Killing !

(By T.G. John, Advocate, Thrissur)

Fifty year old William Chanslor was a prominent attorney of Texas (U.S.A.) and was the President of the City's Trial Lawyers Association. He prepared his briefs well, had good forensic talents and had an amiable nature. In 1979 however he had a cruel blow- his pretty wife, 42 year old Susanne had a paralysing stroke and her suffering had a strange impact on him.

It was at this time that his legal research took him to a five volume set of books "How to Kill" written by John A. Minnery. In the book Minnery counselled on everything from the use of clubs to home made atomic weapons, wiring a urinal to accomplish swift electrocution, portable drills that can easily penetrate skulls, spines or heart muscles. Minnery advised killers to keep their crimes simple and stated that clobbering a victim over the head with a typewriter usually proved very effective. He also dealt with varying methods of poisoning. Morality played little part in Minnery's text but he claimed that the book was designed as an investigative aid to police officers and military personnel.

After reading the volumes, the Texas lawyer, got some 'ideas'. He had a bizarre plot to kill his wife by poisoning 'to end her agony'. He contracted the author of the book at his Ontario home. Between October and March of that year the two men had half a dozen telephone conversations about poison. Chanslor first enquired about killing animals and then revealed that his intended victim was human - 42 years old and partially paralysed and moving in a wheelchair.

When Chanslor asked Minnery to procure poison for him, Minnery went to the police. Chanslor and Minnery finally met in April at the Toranto Air port where Chanslor was introduced to another 'expert' on poisons - who was actually a policeman named Keith Simmons posing as a man with access to poisons. During an hour long conversation in the Air port lounge, taped and photographed by the Canadian Police, Chanslor detailed his mission. When asked whether the victim would co-operate by committing suicide Chanslor lamented "It is an impossibility......I am stick of waiting for this bitch is really getting on my nerves".

After discussing several poisons and rejecting them - because they leave traces - the men decided on ricin, a toxin more powerful than cobra venom; it is extremely rare and produces a slow convulsive death. It is also virtually impossible to detect: Minnery assured Chanslor that an autopsy would attribute the death only to a stroke, heart attack or uremic failure. Chanslor also said that he planned to give the poison to the victim at bed time and inquired how long he should wait before calling his neighbors for help -'Eight to ten hour's was Minnery's ready reply.

Two weeks later, P.C. Symmons who was posing as another poison expert, delivered to Chanslor a yellow capsule (which actually contained only some Vitamin B) along with a surgical mask, gloves and Tweezers to ensure that Chanslor did not touch or inhale the 'poison' at the time of administration! In the presence of Minnery, Chanslor paid the police constable 2000 dollars for the help. Fully satisfied with his plan, Chanslor stepped into his 1981 - Lincoln. And then it happened-the police surrounded the car and arrested him.

At the trial, the accused did not dispute the facts, only their interpretation- arguing that mercy, not murder, was on Chanslors' mind. The Jury however took only three hours to return its verdict. Susanne, the wife of Chanslor, took the stand and pleaded that her husband need not be sent to prison- 'I can't live without him' she wept. Her mercy mission had some effect. The jury rejected the prosecution's recommendation for 16 to 20 years in prison and awarded a sentence of only three years making him eligible for parole in one year.

Why This Discrimination against Christians - Is Section 118 of the Indian Succession Act Unconstitutional

(By Tonny George Kannanlhanam, Advocate, Ernakulam)

The problems related to Indian Succession Act has become a matter of repeated debate and discussion. However, no constructive step seems to have been taken to remedy this situation. The following is a resume of the legal and related problems. This is presented which the hope that those concerned will take effective steps to improve the situation.

Section 118 of the Indian Succession Act 1925 reads as follows:

"Bequest to religious or charitable uses- No man having a nephew or niece or any nearer relative shall have power to bequeath any property to religious or charitable uses, except by will executed not less than twelve months before his death and deposited within six months from its execution in some place provided by law for die safe custody of the Wills of living persons".

When the British settled down to govern India they found that there was no ascertainable law in the matter of succession for communities other than Hindus and Muslims. It was to fill this gap that the Indian Succession Act of 1865 was enacted.

The Indian Succession Act 1865 was repealed and the Indian Succession Act 1925 was enacted consolidating various other enactments in the matter of intestate (testate) and testamentary succession.

The Indian Succession Act 1925 (Act No. 39 of 1925) came into force on 30th September 1925. The Indian Succession Act 1925 was an attempt of the Legislature to embody into one comprehensive Act the law of testamentary and intestate succession applicable to all classes in British India instead of having different Acts for different communities.

The above Act consolidated the Indian Law of Succession. There were numerous statutes relating to intestate and testamentary succession and this Act repeals those statutes and re-enacts in the form of one Act all of them with slight alterations. The Act is therefore, a purely consolidating Act and no fundamental changes are made in this Act to the previous statutes governing the field.

The enactments consolidated in this Act are:-

1.      The Succession (Properly Protection Act) Act 1841, Act XIX of 1841.

2.      The Indian Succession Act of 1865, Act X of 1865.

3.      The Parsi Intestate Succession Act 1865, Act XXI of 1865.

4.      The Hindu Wills Act 1870, Act XXI of 1870.

5.      The Married Women Property Act, 1874, Act III of 1874.

6.      The Probate and Administration Act 1881, Act V of 1881.

7.      The District Delegates Act, 1881, Act VI of 1881.

8.      The Probate and Administration Act, 1889, Act VI of 1889.

9.      Succession Certificate Act, 1889, Act VII of 1889.

10.     The Probate and Administration Act, 1890, Act 11 of 1890.

11.     The Native Christian Administration of Estates Act, 1901, Act VII of 1901.

12.     The Probate and Administration Act, 1903, Act VII of 1903.

The provisions of Section 118 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 has been borrowed from the statute of Mortmain and though it has been held that this statute has no application in India (Mayor of Lyons v. East India Co., I.M.I.A. 175) the principles laid down by the Statute have been enacted in this section. In England before the passing of the statute of Mortmain (9 Geo. IIC. 36) the policy was to favour gifts for charitable and religious uses. But the proneness of the people to make ill considered dying bequests under religious influence threatened to develop into a public danger and the above statute was accordingly passed in 1936 to prevent persons from making death bed bequests.

It can be seen from the above that the principle laid down by the statute of Mortmain has been enacted in S. 118 of the Indian Succession Act 1925.

It can also be seen that the only purpose of the statute of Mortmain was to prevent persons from making ill considered death bed bequests and that too under religious influence.

If the principles laid down by the statute of Mortmain has been enacted in Section 118 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 and if the only purpose of the statute of Mortmain was to prevent persons from making ill considered death bed bequests and that too under religious influence then S.118 cannot be made applicable to those death bed bequests which are not death bed bequests and which are not at all ill considered and which are not at all made under religious influence.

By the statute of Mortmain (9 Geo. II, C. 36) severe restrictions were placed on alienation of lands to charitable purposes. This statute was repealed and replaced by the Mortmain and Charitable Uses Act 1888 (5 land52 Vict. C.42) which is still in force in England. Under this Act every assurance of immovable property - for any charitable uses is void unless executed at least before two witnesses, twelve months at least before the donor's death and enrolled in Chancery within six months before the death.

The object of Section 118 is to prohibit death bed bequests to religious or charitable uses by persons having near relations except under the above conditions. Such death bed bequests cannot be made by persons having any of the following relations: (1) Father. (2) Mother, (3) Son, (4) daughter, (5) Grandfather, (6) Grandson, (7) Grandmother (8) Grand daughter. (9) Brother, (10) Sister, (11) Nephew, (12) Niece.

On page 377 of Sanjiva Row's 1910 edition of Indian Succession Act of 1865 it is stated that nephew, niece or any nearer relative denote only legitimate relationships.

Part VI of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 deals with Testamentary succession. Pan VI includes Section 57 to Section 191.

Section 58 of the Indian Succession Act deals with the general application of Part VI. The above section reads as follows:

S.58. General application of Part -(1) The provisions of this Part shall not apply to testmentary succession to the property of any Mohammedan nor save as provided by Section 57 to a testamentary to the property of any Hindu. Buddhists, Sikh or Jains, nor shall they apply to any will made before die 1st day of January 1856.

(2) Save as provided in sub-s.(i) or by any other law for the time being in force the provisions or this part shall constitute die law of India applicable to all cases of testamentary succession.

Section 118 if enforced goes against the intention of the testator. If that is so the very exercise of writing the will is meaningless. Section 118 thus prevents die purpose of writing die will of die testator from being carried out.

Since Section 118 is not applicable to Hindus, Muslims, etc. It is a discrimination against Christians and so is discriminatory and violative of Art.14 of the Constitution of India. For Hindus, Muslims, etc. there is no such restriction for charitable bequests.

Since Section 118 is inconsistent with Art.14 and 15(1) of the Constitution of India it is also violative of Art.13(1) of the Constitution of India.

Section 118 in effect amounts to discrimination only on the ground of religion.

Section 118 violatives Art.25(1) of the Constitution of India in so far as only because one is a Christian he has to face the consequences of Section 118.

As per Section 118 bequests to religious or charitable uses will get legal validity only if die will is executed not less than twelve months before die testator's death.

The above period of not less than twelve months prescribed by Section 118 after the execution of the will and before the death of the testator is unreasonable, arbitrary and discriminatory without application of mind, unfair, and clearly violative of Art.14 of the Constitution of India.

Human beings have no control at all over their life span. Even very healthy and active persons die any moment due to various reasons unpredictable. So prescribing a period of one year after the execution of the will and before the death of the testator is unreasonable and arbitrary.

Section 118 further says that the will so executed has to be deposited within 6 months from its execution in some place provided by law for the safe custody of the wills of living persons.

The above time limit of within 6 months is also unreasonable and violative of Art.14 of the Constitution.

The above condition to deposit in some place provided by law for safe custody to gel: legal validity for bequests to charity is also discriminatory, unreasonable and violative of Art.14 of the Constitution of India.

Section 118 applies to all the bequests to charities whether such bequest is a direct bequest or is a contingent bequest or is subject to a life interest.

Section 118 applies to all properties both immovable and movable.

As per Section 118 the following bequests are void if the testator is having a nephew and he makes a bequest by a will not executed and deposited as required by Section 118.

1.      For the relief of poor people.

2.      For the maintenance of sick soldiers.

3.      For the erection or support of a hospital

4.      For the education and preferment of orphans.

5.      For the support of scholars.

6.      For the erection or support of a school.

7.      For the building and repairs of a bridge

8.      For the making of roads.

9.      For the erection or support of a church.

10.     For the repairs of a church.

11.     For the benefits of ministers of religion.

12.     For the formation or support of a public garden.

The Succession Act gives no definition of "charity".

Under Section 3 of the Indian Succession Act the State Government has the power to exempt anyone from Section 118. The relevant portions of the above section is as given below.

"Section 3: Power of provincial Government to exempt any race, sect, or tribe in the province from operation of Act. (1) The (State Government) may by notification in the) (official gazette) either retrospectively from the 16th day of March 1865 or prospectively exempt from the operation of any of the following provisions of this Act, namely Ss.5 to 49,58 to 191, 212, 21 3 and 215 to 369 the members of any race, sect or tribe in the State or of any part of such race, sect or tribe to whom the (State Government) considers it impossible or inexpedient to apply such provisions or any of diem mentioned in the order.

xxx                               xxxx                             xxx

(3) Persons exempted under this section or exempted from die operation of any of the provisions of die Indian Succession Act, 1905 under S.332 of that Act are in this Act referred to as "exempted persons".

The procedure prescribed for getting legal validity for charitable bequests in Section 118 is unfair and unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court has said in 1994 (3) SCC 569 (Kartar Singh v. State of Punjab/ as follows:

"The procedure established by law must be in consonance with fundamental principles of fair justice. If procedure offends die fundamental fairness or established ethos or traditions or shocks die conscience of die court it is unconsciousness, unfair, unjust and unreasonable die same would be unconstitutional, Procedural law as well as substantive law must pass die test of Art Hand must be just and fair."

The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that in deciding whether there is a constitutional violation the intention of the law makers is immaterial and what matters is the effect of the law on the fundamental rights. If the law affects the fundamental rights adversely then irrespective of the intention, the law, is based and has to be struck down.

It was held in 1973 SC 106 (120) that however laudable or otherwise justifiable the object or purpose for differentiation it is not the object or purpose or the form but it is die effect, die impact, the results of the law that would determine the question of infringement of fundamental rights.

It was again held 1978 SC 597 (para.13 page 199) that the test for determining whether a statute infringes a fundamental right is the direct and inevitable effect of the statute on a particular fundamental right. The object of the law or the executive action is irrelevant.

Many have set apart a portion of their assets for charity in trie will. But so long as the above section is not struck down as unconstitutional or till the Kerala Government exempts Christians from this provision in many cases the amount set apart for charity will not go for charity.

1998 (1) KLT 88 Journal - "Abolish C.A.T. - Sooner the Better"

Only to be Ignored

(By Advocate P. Jacob Varghese, President, Central Administrative Tribunal Advocates Association)

In 1998 (1) KLT 88, an Article has been published severely critical of Central Administrative Tribunals in general, and the Ernakulam Bench of the Tribunal in particular. The Article is full of inconsistencies, wrong facts and gives a totally false picture about the working of Central Administrative Tribunal throughout India. The Author, who, to the best of my knowledge, has never stepped, into the Central Administrative Tribunal, Ernakulam has taken up on himself, the task of passing judgment, on the functioning of Central Administrative Tribunals in general and the Ernakulam Bench in particular. The Article has to be viewed as an exercise in wrecking vengeance against the members of the Tribunal. The mystery aspect of the article is that a person who is not practicing in the Central Administrative Tribunal claims to have a lot of information about the working of the Tribunal conveniently at his disposal so that he could misrepresent the facts at his will and pleasure.

The author is incapable of appreciating the work done by the Central Administrative Tribunal and particularly its Ernakulam Bench. The congenial atmosphere which was developed at the Bar and the Bench due to the harmonious inter-action between the Members of the Bar, the Central Government Standing Counsels and the Members of the Bench is truly remarkable. Cases are disposed off within the shortest time available due to the co-operation of the Bar. The grievance of the litigants are looked into with a highly judicial, open and liberal approach. The Tribunal is result/effect oriented as regards the problems facing Central Government Employees and positive decisions are rendered, which gives instant and effective relief to the litigating staff of Central Government Offices.

To my knowledge there is no case pending more than two years before the Central Administrative Tribunal particularly Ernakulam Bench. The statement that the Tribunal may take 5 years for disposal of a case and the High Court may take another 5 years, exposes the sad ignorance of the Author not only about the day to day functioning of the Tribunal, but also regarding functioning of the Hon'ble High Court.

The haste with which the article has been written is evident from the several mistakes which were been committed by the Author. The Author's contentions that one more step has been added to litigation is flawed by mis-spelling the word 'tier' as 'tyre'. The jurisdiction of the Hon'ble High Court in dealing with matters ordered by the Tribunal is strictly supervisory and not appellate and hence no new tier has been added as claimed by the Author. It is not surprising that money spent in dispensing justice appears to the author as sheer waste since the author has evidently no experience in handling any matter before Central Administrative Tribunal. In one breath the Author takes the position that there is very little work before Central Administrative Tribunals since "Port Trust Employees" and other "P.S.U. Employees" have chosen not to go before the Central Administrative Tribunal and even the aggrieved litigants would prefer to steer clear of the Central Administrative Tribunal, and immediately in the next breath the Author states that there is more than enough judicial and administrative work for the Tribunal resulting in heavy arrears. The Author is not a Practising Advocate before the Central Administrative Tribunals. It is worth inquiring as to where he got information that the Chairman was not available to hear the Cabinet Secretary's case. Again it seems highly irresponsible on the part of the Author to criticize the quality of the decision by the Central Administrative Tribunal in the Cabinet Secretary's case without any analysis of the decision and indicating in any manner as to how he comes to the conclusion that the decision was inferior in quality.

If the author had properly understood the decision of the Honourable Supreme Court in Chandrakumar's case AIR 1997 SC 1125, certainly he would not have ventured with such skimpy article. The Honourable Supreme Court found in Chandrakumar's case that the system of review through Administrative Tribunals is indispensable. This review through the Tribunals represents the voice of the people of India, after long debates and discussions on the floor of the Parliament, enacted under the Central Administrative Tribunal Act, 1985.

It is contemptuous to attack the Central Administrative Tribunal in vague and ambiguous terms knowing well that the Tribunal has no machinery to give an effective rebuttal. The author has evidently not considered the fact that his insulting remarks against the Tribunal are also equally insulting to the Law Officers and Advocates appearing before the Tribunal whose association I represent. The Central Administrative Tribunal Advocate Association records its strong protest against the tone and content of the aforesaid article and 1998 (1) KLT 88 Journal is only to be ignored.

Government Sanction for Investigation - Is it an Anomaly in the Vigilance Set up of Kerala

(By Advocate P.N. Arun, Research Scholar, Department of Law, University of Kerala, Trivandrum)

G.O. (P) No.65/92/Vig. dated 12th May, 1992 provides for the set up, working and procedure of investigation and enquiries by the Vigilance Department (at present . known as the Vigilance and Anticorruption Bureau).  The Department is the main anticorruption agency investigating cases relating to corruption and misconduct by Government servants and public servants in the State of Kerala.

Paragraph 4 (ii) of the above referred G.O. states: "The Vigilance Department should not initiate enquiries suo motu even when a complaint is made in person or in a signed petition. The Vigilance Department should invariably report such complaints promptly to Government in Vigilance Department, which will issue necessary instructions in the matter".

Therefore, even when specific information relating to the commission of an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 is laid before an officer of the Department, who is authorised to investigate such offences, he is prohibited from registering the FIR and commencing the investigation. Offences under Ss.7 to 13 of the Act can be investigated by officers of specified ranks (according to S.17 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988) without the orders of a Magistrate. Thus the statutory right of the Police to carry out an investigation as per Chapter XII of the Criminal Procedure Code is curtailed by this executive order.

Paragraph 4(iii) states: "The Director of Vigilance Investigation shall initiate a preliminary enquiry in matters referred to him for enquiry. He may himself order a detailed enquiry, when he is satisfied that there is scope for a detailed enquiry". Paragraph 8 states when a case will be registered. "If at any stage during the preliminary enquiry conducted by the Vigilance Department there are reasonable ground to believe that the accused Government servant has committed an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the preliminary enquiry will be stopped at that stage and a crime case registered and investigated after obtaining sanction from the Director of Vigilance Investigation". Thus, even preliminary enquiry into a complaint can be made only when the Government refers the matter to the Director of Vigilance Investigation.

The practice of conducting preliminary enquiry and then registering F.I. R. is sought to be justified on the basis of the Supreme Court decision in Sirajuddin v. State of Madras, AIR 1971 SC 520. Therein it was held that before the public servant is charged with acts of dishonesty which amount to serious misdemeanour or misconduct and a first information is laid against him, there should be some suitable preliminary enquiry into the allegation by a responsible officer. After 5.4.1997, the practice of the Vigilance Department is to conduct a Vigilance Enquiry (VE) after a 'confidential verification' of the allegation referred by Government to Director of Vigilance Investigation.

Even if the requirement of preliminary enquiry or confidential verification is accepted, it escapes reason as to why Government permission or reference is needed to commence such an enquiry. In Vineet Narain v. Union of India, (1998) 1 SCC 222 the Single Directive No.47(3) issued to the C.B.I., by various Ministries/Departments requiring prior sanction before initiating an enquiry or registering a case against certain categories of civil servants (decision making level officers) was struck down. The Court said. "In the absence of any statutory requirement of prior permission or sanction far investigation, it cannot be imposed as a condition precedent for initiation of the investigation....."(at P.262). Though the ‘Superintendence' of the C.B.I. vested in the Central Government (by virtue of Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946) that would not include within it the control of the initiation and the actual process of investigation.

The process of investigation including its initiation is to be governed by the statutory provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code in the absence of special statutes to the contrary. The Vigilance Department (VACB) is also bound by the same law. This is admitted m Paragraph 4(i) of G.O. (P) 65/92. Nevertheless the G.O. is even more drastic in its violation of statutory provisions than the quashed Single Directive, in as much as it imposes a blanket ban on initiation of enquiries against all categories of Government servants and public servants without prior sanction. Will G.O. (P) 65/92 stands the test of law?

Computer in Legal Profession

(By V.T. Ahamed Iqbal, Director, Centre for Legal Studies, Kannur University,

Thalassery)

Computer the intellectual appendage of modern man is gaining more and more influence in the legal profession as well as in the judicial administration. The working environment of lawyers and judges is being rapidly changed by the computer. Unlike the other types of machines which changed the society this new machine has several peculiar features. It is more than a tangible piece of material. It is even coined as a scientific way of doing things in a faster and accurate manner. The machine can think or rather can do a kind of process of thinking. It helps to save much of the time and energy required for collecting, processing, storing and retrieval of data. The bulk of information can be stored by some simple process. The necessary data can be selected from it and a hard copy of it can be made at the click of a simple device.

A personal computer is no more an ornament or a scientist's tool. A lawyer can use his Personal Computer at his office for maintaining his office records, details of case profiles etc. A global lawyer use his lap-top (computer which has the size of a handy brief case) to do all the works while he is on journey. It can do all the works of a PC plus it can be used along with a cell phone through which he can sent or collect message from any part of the world in the form of sound, letters or graphics through the computer network. This can be done even while the lawyer is on a journey from continent to continent. An entire law library sans the dust and silverfish can be put in a compact disc. Popular law book publishers like Butterworths have started marketing bulk of legal information and compendium of legislations and precedents in compact discs which can be read through the laser heads in a computer. The entire office with the library has become a handy thing. Formerly the business executives of multinational corporate bodies were the only people with the computer assisted offices and the handy computer called laptop or notepad. But recently such computer assisted office or the 'virtual office' is becoming more and more popular amongst the lawyers the world over.

Computer has several utilities in legal profession. It is a helping hand in the office. To those trained in law and computer, it will provide several new avenues of job opportunity. Primarily the computer is used as a word processing machine. It can do marvels in the preparation of case briefs conveyancing, pleading, etc. There are several popular types of word processing softwares which has very useful features like editing, creating formats, merging the text from one file to other files, searching for a specific word or phrase throughout a document and substituting it with other words or phrase etc. The spelling checking thesaurus checking, pagination and repagination creation of index and footnote etc are other important utilities of the word processors. Large quantity of information can be achieved and can be retrieved in a very little time. The desktop publishing is another important category of word processing utility. The presentation of a document can be designed according to our aesthetic choice and the style of types, column, paragraph, lay out colour etc can be selected and arranged to our convenience. A graphic programme helps to draw pictures and using a scanner a photograph or any kind of graphics can be incorporated to a document. Further using multimedia it is possible to incorporate sound also in the prepared virtual document.

Formerly computer graphics was used by business professionals only. But it is identified recently that use of computer graphics is highly useful in the presentation of case in court room. It is possible to re-create an accident, present a contour map of a disputed land, prepare a chart or graph or compare two hand writings or signatures using the virtual media. The presentation can be prepared in colour and style of our choice. It can be made in the form of moving pictures or stills like slide. It is possible to take the printout of the presentation also. Electronic spread sheets which can also do the accounting works, preparation of projects and plans etc. provides another category of utility. The tax returns, the estate plans, calculation of damages in the legal injury cases, financial plans required for the profession etc. which will require good time for preparation can be done within a little time. To add impression to the presentation, charts, graphs and other visual displays can be created on the basis of the given data. Several types of templates for the spread sheets are available in the market or a new template can be created as per our requirement. Preparation of calendar or docket is a cardinal function of the legal office management. Using computer it can be done quite easily. The significant advantage of computer based docket system is that the data can be arranged in different manners at a time. The cases can be sorted on the basis dates, months, years, nature of cases, clients name, courts name etc. simultaneously. Quick check of files and updating of files can be done in a split second. The client service also can be done very promptly.

Time - a very crucial factor in modern world - needs an effective management to gain the success in life. The conventional Postal system which depends on manual works takes much time to transfer messages. Hence, it is called 'snail mail'. Computer based mail system known as E-Mail helps to send messages to any part of the world in a fraction of second at a very little cost. To keep in pace with the developing world the legal profession also has to accept this utility of computer.

The on-line services provides legal data base services required for legal research. The WEST LAW, LEXIS, EUROLEX, etc are the popular on-line services in the western countries. In India, the SCC and the JURIS are the known legal database services. The computer appended with a special device called modem connected to an ordinary telephone can establish access to other computers in the network. Internet a global system of network of computers is well known. The supply of legal data is done through this network. The data can be collected from the professional suppliers, libraries, universities etc. The use of computer reduces a great quantity of effort and energy needed in the legal research. The professional data provides supply of the full text of judgments, or the digest or the required titles of the topics and the copy of the statutes required by the subscriber. In India, there is no legal data service provider with total collection of Indian legislation and precedents. Incidentally it is interesting to note that the first and very popular legal database service in US the LEXIS which is now used in the world over was created in India in the year 1973 at the request of the Ohio Bar Association of US. But we have not yet made a computerised compendium of our own laws till this date. It is expected that in the near future the Supreme Court and the High Courts of our country will enter the computer network system. Then the judgments pronounced by the court of records will become available to all instantly. Similarly when the network is extended to all the Courts, Law Departments, Bar Associations, Legal Educational Institutions and Lawyers Offices the dimension of the legal profession will have a total change. Recently the Supreme Court of India has started a Website in the internet. By the expansion of the services available through the website legal profession and the general public will be benefited to a great extent. But there is a great impediment in this regard. It is nothing but the reluctance of lawyers to adapt with the changing world. On an informal survey held amongst the actively practising lawyers it is observed that out of one thousand lawyers practicing in certain Bars of Kerala seven lawyers alone were found using computer. Approximately 90% of lawyers do not have any idea about computer. If we wish to survive in this era of intellectual explosion and communication revoluation we have to keep in pace with time and we must be prepared to imbibe the intellectual innovations at the earliest.