Letter to Readers

Photo: www.theatlantic.com

Dear Readers,
I am writing this open letter to announce to our readers that my year long tenure has finally come to an end.
It has been a privilege to coordinate content for this blog until now. Our blog magazine today has readership, recognition and authenticity. Read by policy makers to Judicial minds, we are happy to retain this class magazine status.

The story of this blog starts with a question by former World Bank Chief Counsel and National Judicial Academy Director Dr. Mohan Gopal. After his class at our college, Dr. Gopal asked 'why don't you people start a blog?'. There begins the journey. Initially named as Indian Legal Watch, it was changed to 'Government Law College Thiruvananthapuram Students Blog on Kerala Legal Affairs' on the directions of Dr. Mohan Gopal himself.

On my resignation from the post after the end of one year, I remember the following persons whose help at different times make us stand as of today. Thanks on behalf of our team

To our Editorial Board Chairman Dr. P.G Balachandran Pillai. He is the one on whose supervision this was set up. I remember words- 'Nebil, if our intention is good, then god will definitely get things in favor of us'. He is the real example of how a Board Chairman should be. He never interfered in the Editorial freedom and we all love him because of that.

Special thanks to Adv. Nisa Fasil for motivating us and pushing us ahead. Thanks a lot for providing us with facilities including your laptop, internet connection and office for this blog.

This blog can never forget the contributions of Dr. Justice V.R Krishna Iyer. Our lead matter was an article by him. His Lordship provided us with dozens of articles, statements and interviews. We are indebted towards you. His Private Secretary Mr. Ramanathan took a lot of pain to dictate, take down notes and get it typed for us. We can never forget you also.

First interview was with former Director General of Police Shri. MGA Ramen. This great man gave us two slots for the interview. One time at Cochin and next at Thiruvananthapuram. I even today have his hand corrected copy of the draft of the interview. Great gentleman.

Prof. Manoj Krishna from our college wrote for us and also did what ever possible to promote this blog. He always helped in the time of crisis, gave us guidelines and asked other students to write for us. He gave us excellent contacts like Adv. Jayesh Pillai, who also helped us in many ways.

Our distinguished reader and the senior Journalist who broke the 2G scam, J Gopikrishnan offered to write a piece on Criminal Lawyers. We were on cloud 9 hearing that. We got a blog post which was most widely read and criticized.

Ashraf Padanna (Foreign Correspondent of Gulf Today and Oman Observer), the first media person to recognize our existence. His news stories in the backdrop of our interviews gave us recognition and appreciation from the readers and interviewees.

John Mary Joseph (Resident Editor of Deccan Chronicle) for recognizing that we exist in this world.

Syam Devaraj (Correspondent, Kairali TV), for scrolling the news that we published. His works gave us authenticity.

Vivina (Correspondent, PRD) for taking pain to verify news relating to the government. Thanks for helping us even at the peak of your work schedule.

VR Rajiven IPS, for his help at multiple times. His interview was a great encouragement to many civil service aspirants. Your support from the prior launch days is deeply remembered.

Jacob Punnoose IPS, for his help and support, not sure that he actually remembers us. His accommodating attitude always helped us to do stories.

Sudheer Mukkam, Journalist at Madhyamam for equipping us with an interview of former National Judicial Academy Chief Dr. G Mohan Gopal. His interview gave us hope during those difficult times before the launch.

Shasthamangalam S Ajith Kumar for that interview which was carried by Gulf Today, Oman Observer, Deccan Chronicle and Kairali TV. First interview in a court corridor.

Dr. Mathew Kuzhalnadan, National Secretary of Indian Youth Congress, for his encouragement and cooperation. I remember well about your query about the blog during your college visit and desire to see the team behind this initiative. His visit had a positive impact on us.

Adv. Kiran Lal, for coming down to meet us and encouraging us. One of the most positive person I have ever meet. A 'Dil Mange More' attitude. His article on SSB was also widely read.

Prasanth Nair IAS for his email interview. Encouraged students from law background and also outside. Promptness in giving the interview is appreciated.

Adv. Moharaj Gopalakrishnan. Spl Prosecutor in Enrica Lexi case, for granting us time for an interview even at night amidst busy schedule and thanks for giving us an opportunity to talk to the Investigation officer in Enrica Lexi case. Thanks a lot Reju Prasad for fixing that interview with Mohan Raj sir.

Garima Tiwari. One of our most respected readers and critique. We had the privilage to interview this young legal wizard. Her knowledge of International Criminal Law always amazed us.

Adv. Simla Prabhakaran for giving us your frank and independent opinion on various issues. Her knowledge of law at this young age always amazed us. Also thanks for taking part in our discussion.

Adv. Jayesh Pillai, Mumbai High Court, for always guiding and motivating us. His expertise in law was at our doorstep a couple of times. Thanks for writing for us and offer to do the new one.

Jino M Kurian, Student at NALSAR for his writings that is always different. He was dare enough to stand against the view propagated by the main stream media and support P.J Kurian. His other writing was also excellent. He gave all the power to the Editor to rewrite his article, of course without changing the basic structure. Luckily we never had to do anything of such a proportion. We love you a lot.

Abdullah Karuthedakam is a great friend and regular reader of our blog. The email lists provided by him was a great help. We were able to win over a large number of audience with your help.

Vimal Koshy is our Special Correspondent and Technical Expert. His Sony Voice Recorders was used in majority of the interviews done by us. His assistance in many interviews and stories was a real help. Happy to edit his independent stories also.

Special thanks to Viswajith Anand and Navaneeth Krishnan for sending questions for the interview even at very short notice.

Thanks to our Cochin Special Correspondent Joseph MD. His readiness to do a work at any time is note worthy. I never remember as heard a 'No' from him.

This blog would have been nothing without our Photo Editor Navya Frederick Pereira. She chose to stay with us in our good and bad days. This blog is what it is today because of your sincere efforts. From statistics reporting to news reporting to Photography, you spend a lot of time and effort.

Remember many who climbed on to this boat in the initial days, but left us alone at rough seas. Our works made us understand that if we are ready to work, then even a free blogging site can function like a law magazine.

Readers are our assets. Thanks for staying with us even when in this digital graphics age we still followed EPW model. Can never forget readers like Ramesh Rateria who criticizes citing para number, that really shows the attention with which he reads. Readers like Anisha Adithya, Adv. Rajesh Ramamoorthy, Adv. Boris Paul, Anil Puliyila, Sarah Georgey needs a special mention. Many other distinguished readers do not wish to be named owing to Professional and other reasons, so no naming individually. Bar, Bench and Academia supported us to the maximum. Thanks a lot. Readers, support and criticize to help us grow.

Best wishes to my dear friend and new Editor- Lesley Rajan. Keep going. Confident that you would convert this blog into a website in the future. One request- Don't put all rubbish posts and claim public interest. One advice- Do not go behind the volume of Audience traffic and ratings.


Enjoy your read.


Warm regards,
Nebil Nizar,
Content Coordinator (2012-13)

'He /she will be tested for some essential qualities like power of retention, clarity of concepts, ability to identify the correct alternatives with efficiency and accuracy.'

Shri. V.R Rajiven

Shri. V.R Rajiven is a 1977 Batch Kerala Cadre Indian Police Service Officer who retired in 2010 as Director General of Police. As an I.P.S officer, he worked in various capacities throughout the state. Awarded the President's medal for Meritorious Service during the year 1998, and Highest Police Honor of President's Medal for Distinguished Service in 2006.

Prior to his law enforcement career, practiced as a lawyer at High Court of Kerala with Senior Counsel and later Judge Shri. Bhaskaran Nambiar.

Given below is the transcript of his interview with Nebil Nizar.

1. How Law Students can positively engage in nation building  and make a difference ?

V.R Rajiven: The work of Nation-building has to be undertaken by each and every member of the society - especially youngsters from all walks of life. There is no special role for law students compared with others in this matter.  However, I feel that there are certain areas which can be better served by Law students who get opportunities to study concepts of International Human Rights, Democracy, Rule of law, Constitutionalism, Self-determination, civil society, gender justice and minority rights, and the role these factors play, individually and in combination, in creating and maintaining an emergent society that respects international human rights. Law students can also act as catalytic agents in anti corruption and civil rights movements, and in the emancipation of the oppressed which will definitely make a difference in the society. But I feel that these things can be done after the completion of studies and it is better for students to concentrate on their studies rather than think and worry about concepts like nation building and get confused during their college days.

2. When did you start preparations for Civil Services Exam ?

V.R Rajiven: Once you have decided to appear in the Civil Services Exam, preparations should start early. No time frame can be fixed for starting the preparations. Preferably your preparations should start from your school days once you have decided about your final destination.  Read news papers and periodicals daily to increase your general knowledge and be updated about current affairs and happenings around you. You have to develop the habit of reading news papers and periodicals from your school days and subject wise preparations can start preferably after graduation or may be from the 3rd year of LL. B course. As far as I am concerned, my serious preparations for the Civil Services Main Exam started after I joined the 3 year LL.B course.   One common misconception about the preliminary is that it is a test of facts and figures.  A candidate should have the right frame of mind and the will power to succeed in the exam. A proper action plan is needed for the preparation itself since he /she will be tested for some essential qualities like power of retention, clarity of concepts, ability to identify the correct alternatives with efficiency and accuracy. All this requires a quick decision making power. There is stress on language skills and analysis and decision making capacities.   These are skills that are developed over years and not just in a few months. It would be advisable to start focusing on your problem solving and language skills as soon as you complete your +2 course. Your aim should be to develop an analytical mind and should have basic knowledge of the world around you . Try to sharpen your skills by participating in Debates, Elocution competitions, moot courts etc.

3. How should a student of Law study if he is aiming for Civil Service Exam?

V.R Rajiven: One should choose the subjects he intends to take for the Civil Services Main Exam and concentrate more on those subjects. Where ever possible, give preference to Law subjects as you can study them along with your LL.B subjects’. Considering the fact that the time between the Main Exam and the declaration of result of the Preliminary Exam is very less, it is advisable to begin preparations of the Main Exam along with the Preliminary Exam. The choice of optional subject for Paper-II has to be done very carefully. The optional subject for Paper-II should usually be the subject in which the candidate has either attained proficiency/higher academic qualification or in which the candidate feels at home. Even if your branch of study is different, it is advisable to keep in touch with one of these subjects which will help you when you start preparations. Start collecting books and readings once you have made your choice. While studying for the optional subjects, remember that there is no scope for selective studies in the Civil Services Examination. The whole syllabus must be completely and thoroughly covered.  If you choose subjects in which you do not have a basic grounding, start from simple books. After getting the grasp of the basic concepts, start with higher level study material.

4. It is a frequently asked question by Law students whether LL.M or Civil Service  preparation must be undertaken first. What do you think?

V.R Rajiven: There is no need to give preference to one exam over the other. In any case, don’t presume that LL.B degree will not give you the required proficiency to tackle the Civil Services Exam. I pursued my LL.M course along with my Civil Services Exam preparations. I found it quite useful since I had taken mainly Law subjects for my Civil Services Main Examination and was also able to make maximum use of the college library, and I appeared for the Civil Services Exam before completing the LL.M course.  If you start your preparations for the Civil Services Examination after you finish LL.M, you will waste another 2 or 3 years and will join the Service rather very late and joining the Service at an early date has its advantages.

5. Do you think that serving the Corporate Sector would instill professionalism in a young man ?

File Photo

V.R Rajiven: The requirement and specialization will differ from corporate to corporate. With increase in the corporate sector, the demands for the related services have increased and this has led to tremendous change in the techniques of the respective services. So serving in corporate sector alone may not guarantee instillation of professionalism in a young man. If you look around you can find any number of MBA graduates just performing clerical jobs in the Corporate Sector. What is important is the level at which you enter the Corporate Sector and the type of work assigned to you. Whether you are working in Govt: Sector or Corporate Sector, developing professionalism will depend on your attitude and your business ethos. It may also be noted that there is great demand for retired Bureaucrats in the corporate sector and this is mainly because of the professionalism they have achieved while working in the Govt: Sector. While working as a civil servant you deal with complex issues on a day to day basis and the professional skills you earn can easily match or even excel the professional skills of a corporate executive.

6. It is seen that persons learned in law engage in many jobs  without any professional training and succeeds in that, may be journalism, politics etc. Do you think LL.B moulds a teen into a man?

V.R Rajiven: Probably, knowledge of Law will come to the help of Law graduates in many fields and they may do better than others in a god no: of jobs. But at the same time we have to admit the fact that proper professional training is required to sharpen the skills, techniques and knowledge acquired by a law graduates to deal with specialised jobs since basically LL.B degree aims to mould the students as   good lawyers. It cannot be said that you will perform better than others as a member of the Civil Service, a corporate executive ,a journalist or a politician simply because you possess a law degree. May be, you can avoid pitfalls in the particular profession as you know the rules and regulations better than others once you acquire a law degree. At same time we have to remember that so many other vital factors other than knowledge of law are essential to excel in the professional arena.

7. Did your study of law help you in any way when you successfully discharged your duties as a law enforcement officer?

V.R Rajiven: From your question itself the answer is quite obvious. As a police officer I had to enforce Law, and knowledge of law was of great help. Among the various Services, I feel that IPS is the one where your knowledge of law will come to your aid throughout your career. Once you enter the IPS, from day one you start dealing with IPC, CrPC, Evidence Act, etc and a plethora of other Central and state Acts and Rules. On a day to day basis you will have to deal with prosecutors and court cases and your law back ground will be of great help.

8. What is your advice to Law students?

V.R Rajiven: The tenet of legal profession can never be considered financial gains alone. From the student days, a law student has to develop certain basic qualities like self esteem, humility, compassion, respect for law etc and should have definite ideas about his final destination - legal profession or elsewhere. Once the destination is finalised, he has to choose the right path to reach the place. As the   study time available to him remains the same, he has to make proper adjustments and find time slots for additional items if he wants to pursue a Civil Services Career after LL.B. He should understand that to get into the Civil Services he has to compete with students from different disciplines and LL.B   has no special edge over other courses. Keeping the above aspect in mind, you have to organise your studies.  Rather than mugging up from guides, depend on standard text books and reference books and always be willing and eager to learn from others and your own experience.  

myidnebil@gmail.com