A shrill discord

Indian lawyers are fighting a rear-guard battle against globalization, argues prominent commentator and former regional editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review, VG Kulkarni

Looking back at independent India’s history, one cannot but notice that changes in policy came quite easily in the first three of the six decades – despite the daunting challenges of nation-building. Several sectors of the economy came under state control one by one, as existing industries were nationalized or new ones were created by successive governments. There was not much public outcry against these measures. After all, many of the industries belonged to the erstwhile colonial masters and local tycoons who – with a few significant exceptions – had played no role in the independence movement.

By the early 1990s, a foreign exchange crisis caused by the first Gulf War almost resulted in India becoming a debt defaulter and forced the adoption of market reforms. Every step in converting a protected economy to an open one has been hard fought, because a closed system of what was called the Licence Raj had created comfortable niches for vested interests. And politicians loved to put on the nationalist robes in the name of populism.

Despite the march of globalization, agreements with the World Trade Organization and India’s growing engagement with the world economy, protectionist sentiment – partly justified, partly not – continues to have a following in the country. In such a climate arose over the past couple of years a shrill debate and discord over the moves to open up India’s legal market to foreign law firms.