The Hindu : Business : Second generation legal reforms vital, says Mukesh Ambani

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 22, 2006

Business

Business

Second generation legal reforms vital, says Mukesh Ambani

Special Correspondent

Huge opportunities for India as legal services would be outsourced

— Photo: S. Subramanium

FOR BIGGER REFORMS: Union Law Minister, H. R. Bhardwaj (right), with Chairman, Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani, at the conference on `Partnership between Business and Law' in New Delhi on Monday.

NEW DELHI: Mukesh Ambani on Monday called for establishment of second generation legal system that would answer the needs of the economy by striking a balance between regulations and competition to enable the country to meet the challenges of globalisation and tap vast opportunities both within and outside country.

Mr. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, who was honoured with the `Outstanding corporate leader award-2006' of the Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF) said the Indian legal fraternity would need to prepare itself for providing legal services of global standard.

There were huge opportunities for India as legal services would be outsourced. For capacity building, legal firms would need to grow and grow faster by hiring thousands of young lawyers with multidisciplinary legal expertise to work as a team and claim their share in legal outsourcing on the pattern of the IT sector, Mr. Ambani said, reeling out the list of upcoming areas where legal expertise would be needed.

Striking a balance

Speaking as the chief guest at the conference on `Partnership between business and law' organised by SILF and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), Mr. Ambani said business had to function within the framework of the legal system and abide by the rule of law. The second generation reforms, paving the way for the legal-economic system, must strike a balance between regulation and competition and at the same time streamline the justice delivery system to facilitate tapping of huge opportunities of economic growth and help the country merge as a major economic power.

He said in the field of legal services too, the country would do well globally as it was now doing in the area of capital market. Despite initial doubts, the capital market in India was as vibrant as in the U.S. or Europe.

Earlier, Law Minister H. R. Bhardwaj said the Government was taking steps to establish a mechanism of international standard for settlement of disputes.

The international forum would work for resolving business disputes quickly.

Referring to the demand by Lalit Bhasin, President of SILF, that the country's legal profession should not be thrown open global competition, Mr. Bhardwaj said the Indian legal fraternity must rise to the occasion and provide legal services of international standard and in a responsible manner. It must build capacity and at the same time develop quality.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Business

News Update

Stories in this Section