This interview has been taken by Abhisinchan Das, a Campus Leader at Lawctopus.
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Adv. Manik Goyal is an advocate at the Supreme Court of India, the founder of NyayaSarthak. a network of lawyers all around the nation who provide pro bono services in India to the poor people who cannot afford high paid lawyers.
Alongwith NyayaSarthak, Mr. Manika Goyal is also a legal associate in the Chambers of Advocate Rohit Pandey.
For our readers, could you please tell a little bit about yourself and your background in the legal profession?
Hi I am Manik Goyal and I have done my graduation from Rajindra College, Bathinda in Punjab and I have done my LL.B. from Delhi University. Precisely from Law Centre 1, University of Delhi. Also, I am an advocate at the Supreme Court of India. I have founded NyayaSarthak. Currently I am a Legal Associate at Chambers of Advocate Rohit Pandey.
What made you choose law as a career after pursuing B.COM?
I have been into many NGOs during my childhood. When I was in 6th class, I joined NGOs in my hometown. So, basically, I have seen many localities around me where a lack of legal awareness was there. I used to go to the houses at that time, with my parents and with my friends.
I have seen a lot of issues from a legal perspective that were lagging behind. Like, when I was in class 10, there was an incident that took place, where many people were not even having their ration cards with them.
So, I used to consult my teachers regarding the same and asked them about the profession which can serve these people and they guided me to become a bureaucrat or a civil servant, or a lawyer. I used to do research on these things, how I can be a civil servant or a legal professional, and my journey begins from there.
At first I wanted to be a civil servant. So, I have given attempts in UPSC. I didn’t clear that exam. It can be said that my career in law was predetermined.
After pursuing B. Com, I appeared for the entrance test of the Faculty of Law. And I cracked it. Particularly, I chose Law Center 1 because Law Center 1 has evening timings which helped me in utilizing the morning in learning more new things.
At first, I got an allotment in NLU Punjab, NLU Patiala, which is RGNUL and from Punjab University but I wanted to do it from Delhi University because it is a prestigious institution all over India in 3-year law. The strong alumni network it provides like CJI D.Y Chandrachud, Kapil Sibal and many more well-known alumni.
What aspects of working as an advocate at Supreme Court of India do you find most fulfilling and enjoyable?
I have also worked in the trial courts during my internship days, but working as an advocate at the Supreme Court of India is very captivating and in the Supreme Court you get a broader mindset as you get to work in the best environment and on different things.
Working with Rohit Pandey sir from the initial days helped me to work in a broader perspective, also working in the Supreme Court helps you to build more strong connections. These connections all over India helped me provide legal help to many people in their respective states. The talents in the apex court also assisted me to gain more insights and learn more things in the diverse field of law.
Is it okay to get associated with politics as a law student, as you have done politics?
I was expecting this question. Getting associated with politics as a law student depends on the person, but for me it was an important aspect during my college days. Even now it is important to me because in the legal field you need networks and connections.
To build a stronger base, politics really helped me. Like when I was in my college, I was the president of NSUI of law center 1,2 and campus law center. We made a strong membership base of around 3000 students. These helped me widen my network base which was not possible as a law student without getting into politics. Even in my college days I used to participate in the MUNs, youth parliaments etc.
I was obstinate to become president in my college but I could not make it as the college halted the election at that time. After actively participating in the college politics, I was also promoted to the post of general secretary of NSUI in Delhi.
I was offered to become part of the legal wing of the political party. But continuing politics after college hampered my professional life, as clients were choosing their lawyers according to their party, so I decided to resign from the post of general secretary.
Answering to the question, if someone is interested in associating with politics as a law student then he should join it. It helps you to get leadership skills, make networks, administrative skills etc. Joining politics as a student of law landed a hand to my legal career.
Still now I am having friends all over the nation due to the fame earned in those college days. As connections made from politics are the strongest connections. So, students having interest in politics should join politics.
What have been some of the most memorable moment or case in your legal career?
Ah every case has a different and interesting side, but I would like to mention about a pro bono case I did years back. The client was a rickshaw puller, one day in his daily work he saw a dead body in a public toilet and two people were running from that place. The rickshaw puller tried to stop them but one of them escaped the place and with the other there was a scuffle that took place.
In the scuffle the rickshaw puller tried to save himself and in private defense the wrong-doer was killed. In puzzlement the rickshaw puller also escaped that place and in the next day police caught him and charged him for the double murder. It was complicated to prove that the rickshaw puller was innocent. Me and my team worked hard on this case and found a piece of evidence to prove our client’s innocence in the first murder.
Also, the case is ongoing and the rickshaw puller is on bail and now we are working to prove in the court that the second murder happened in private defense and no intention was there to kill that person. This case is an interesting case in my career and this becomes more memorable because we did this as pro bono.
You are the founder of NyayaSarthak, so what is the function of NyayaSarthak pro bono initiative?
At NyayaSarthak we have a network of lawyers all around the nation. We provide pro bono services in India to the poor people who cannot afford high paid lawyers. The connection of lawyers we have helps us to provide legal services in the country.
What differentiates us from the other pro bono services is our wide network of lawyers, others provide services in a respective region or court but we are blessed to provide pro bono services in the whole country.
Also, we deal with the pro bono cases as same as the normal paid cases with that same motivation and same energy. In building NyayaSarthak my friends from college days really helped me and the connections I made during those days are also helping NyayaSarthak to build a wide and strong network.
In Delhi University there was a diversity of students coming from different states and places, they are also connected with the NyayaSarthak today, and in this my political connections also helped me in building this pro bono initiative.
How do you manage stress and maintain work life balance?
Stress is a part of professional life but overcoming stress is the main thing to do. Stress does not bother me because I am pursuing a profession which I always wanted to do, so in my work life I love to do what I am doing.
I am from a well to do family, so I do not have to put pressure on myself to send money to my home, that’s why I am able to serve the society as pro bono and in my professional life obviously there is stress like when a client calls me at midnight before the day their matter is listed, yeah I can understand that they are anxious and they have paid fees to the lawyer but that doesn’t mean that they have bought the lawyer, this kind of situation becomes a little bit stressful.
In the other cases I am not bothered by stress because I enjoy my profession. Beside my professional life I handle situations from NyayaSarthak, like meeting with the team, helping interns of NyayaSarthak, giving advice to them and many more things. I really enjoy these things, if someone is asking for help from me I am always there to help him in real time and like this without taking stress I am serving the society.
What is your daily schedule?
I live in Delhi and if I am not traveling then I usually sleep at 2-3 AM because I have so many things to do after I come from my office as I have promised people to serve them. So, I wake up at 8 AM and go for some walk or exercise, in the summer I do not prefer going for a morning walk instead I do yoga at home. Then I get ready for my office and I try to reach there by 9:30 am as court timings are from 10 am.
Then I move to the supreme court to deal with the matters listed. After briefing to our seniors and others I deal with the court work and different legal things. At 4-5 pm I switch to our office as we have to prepare for the next day. Making plans, taking updates from the interns and meeting with the colleagues to prepare best for the next day. These things run up to 8-9pm and then finally I go home.
Do you have any advice to our readers?
I would like to advise the upcoming lawyers and the law students about internships. Internships are good for building new experiences and exploring the field but they should do the internship after proper background check of the company or firm. If you have 2-3 mutual friends or 2-3 mutual college mates who have done internships there, contact them to know about the culture there.
Nowadays there is a scam going on for the internships as people are charging for the internships from the students itself. There is no gain in these types of things as they are selling the certificates for a certain price. Also, people are opening web pages and sites to provide internships. After checking you get to know that you’re getting an internship certificate from the founder of that page and he is also a law student like you, these types of certificates stand nowhere.
One more piece of advice I would like to give to the law students is that they should try litigation at least once to get the thrill of the justice system. If someone is going for corporate law then also, I would advise him that while staying in a corporate world, you should pursue litigation once to feel the thrill. Whether you pursue pro-bono cases or do anything. Being a lawyer is the most important thing for you to help someone. But being on the corporate side, you are helping a company.
Litigation helps you to taste the diverse cases that even shocks you about what is going on in this world. There are only a few posts where you can serve the society and litigation is one of them. So, it is my advice that one must pursue litigation at least once in a lifetime.
This interview is part of our Star Student/Faculty interview series, in which our campus leaders interview their college’s star student/faculty. Stay tuned for more!
Source: Lawctopus