Parmeshwar Devkota

Some Nepalis may have some reservations about the performance of successive governments, but they must have felt proud of the state with the republican setup. This is because the state has been providing allowances, facilities and legal rights to those citizens who had been discriminated in the past.

In the judiciary system, the state is working for the rights of women, children and minority groups. It has been expediting works in district, high and apex courts. The present constitution has provision of setting up the Judicial Council and Judicial Service Commission to put robust justice system in place.
The Nepal Bar Association (NBA) is full of erudite lawyers in thousands. They strive hard to plead for the rights of clients who approach them. As the judiciary is an independent and sovereign organisation, it can discharge justice on the basis of evidences.

There are also many laws and by-laws to punish the culprits and deliver justice to the innocent citizens so as to make the citizens morally upright and confident. Though the state is effortful in meeting all needs of the judiciary, the initiatives taken so far may not be adequate in this connection. This situation can be compared with the shining sun in the front façade of the house but shadow at the backyard.

Though the sun rays come in millions to every knock and corner, but they may not reach out to the backyard of a house. Similar situation is in the judiciary. Though there are hundreds of laws and by-laws, they may not serve the particular individual or institution. To deal such complex or new cases, the state delegates special authority to certain people. This called discretionary power.
The persons who exercise discretionary power are the part of the state. If the person misuses such authority, s/he may benefit personally but the service seekers are denied justice. So, the persons with discretionary power must possess personal morality and professional ethics.

Personal morality is connected with principles of right and wrong behaviour based on a person’s own sense of what is fair and what is not. It is influenced by persons’ upbringing, social values and faith. Professional ethic, on the other hand, is a set of principles established by seniors and gurus whom we perceive as role model. So, ethics have wider aspect in professionalism.

That is why there is a vast difference between professional ethics and business ethics. The dos and don’ts of professional ethics do not match with the business ethics. As said earlier, professional ethics is directly correlated with moral obligation of a person in question. On the other, if any business persons break the business ethic, s/he has to face legal procedures.

Therefore, the dispute between Nepal Bar Association and Bench is an ethical and moral issue. In the intellectual circles, the ethical and moral disputes are not settled in compromise because compromise weakens the set mechanism of the state and undermines the dignity of the judiciary.