LAW CENTRE I, FACULTY OF LAW

UNIVERSITY OF DELHI

ASSIGNMENT ON CLIENT COUNSELLING

ON ADULTRY AND DIVORCE

Submitted by

Kushal

226163
&
Ankit Kumar Rai
226271

Class of LLB - Semester 5th

Section J

Under the guidance of

Dr. Swati Jindal

Assistant Professor
 INTRODUCTION

Professional Legal Education should necessarily focus on the lawyering skills. Client
counselling is a vital skill in which the students of law should be trained. One of the
significant functions of a lawyer is to advise the people who seek assistance in knowing the
legal implications of their actions. The lawyer is looked upon to facilitate decision making in
certain critical legal matters. This function of the lawyer influencing and facilitating decisions
is called counselling. Bar Council of India, the highest professional body of lawyers, has a
key role in Professional Legal Education. It has drawn up a detailed scheme on practical
training consisting of professional ethics, bar bench relations, contempt of court, moot court,
pre-trial procedures, negotiations, interviewing and counselling, drafting of conveyances and
pleadings, legal aid, public interest lawyering etc..1

SCENARIO

Ankit and Ananya had an marriage 5 years ago. Their relationship was not going smooth
since last 3 years . Ananya got job in bank 2 years ago and since then she is not behaving
well, after she started earning she was not taking care of the family and taking them for
granted. She leaves for office early and come late by night. She is also having lot of mood
swings. Her phone calls got increased in night and she used to be on call for hours in late
night. Upon asking she used to get angry and never replied in a respectful manner. One fine
day Ankit tried to confront her but it lead to big fight between them and Ankit lost his cool in
midst and slapped her twice. Now Ankit wants to know the legal remedies possible.

1
"Client Counselling for Tomorrow's Lawyers" By Mrs. Srividhya Jayakumar
 TECHNIQUES USED

Techniques used are very subjective to the listeners and based solely and need to be tailored
according to the client.2

THE TECHNIQUES USED IN THIS SESSION ARE

1. PASSIVE LISTENING - Passive listening is what most people probably

conceptualize listening to be: not talking and letting someone else speak. It is a skill
that begins with being silent. Doing it well requires learning to be comfortable with
periods of silence.
2. ACTIVE LISTENING - Another type of listening response that builds rapport and
gathers information even more effectively than passive listening, is called active
listening. This involves responding to pauses, and sometimes even questions, with a
response that reflects, in different words,what clients have said.
3. CONTENT REFLECTIONS - Content reflections typically follow a short statement
about one fact or a related series of events. It is usually a single statement that follows
a fairly short client narrative. Content reflections are usually heard as requests for
clarification if they are inaccurate.
4. FEELING REFLECTIONS - Representing clients often means working with people
experiencing emotional crises. They should not be ignored. They are facts in the sense
that they often influence outcomes as much as or even more than objective data. The
most effective way to respond to emotional expressions is with active listening
statements that reflect them non-judgmentally.
5. MOTIVATING STATEMENTS - Giving clients positive feedback about the
valuable contributions they make during interviews motivates them to be more
cooperative and communicative. Making statements about expectations can alleviate
client anxiety and discomfort.
6. AVOID CHAMPARTY- It basically means dealing illegally and charging higher fees
this has been avoided as the firm is that of a purely professional nature

2
MOOT COURT, MOCK TRIAL AND INTERNSHIP case material.
 ADVICE GIVEN

APPLYING THE LAW

1. Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code defines Section 497 of the IPC gave a husband
the exclusive right to prosecute the person with whom the wife committed adultery by
indulging in sexual intercourse with him. The husband can also file for divorce against
his adulterous wife on grounds of adultery. However, a similar right was not conferred
on a wife to prosecute the woman with whom her husband has committed adultery.
Secondly, the provision did not confer any right on the wife to prosecute her husband
for adultery. This is, however, one perspective of looking at this provision.

2. The second perspective is that this section punishes sexual intercourse of a man with a
married woman without the consent of her husband. However, in case there is a sexual
intercourse of a man with an unmarried woman with her consent or with a married
woman with the consent of her husband, then the man cannot be liable for adultery.
What is crucial to this perspective is that the section does not provide any punishment
for the unfaithful wife and only provides for the punishment to the man who indulged in
sexual intercourse with the married women.

2. Section 13 in The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955

13 Divorce.
(1) Any marriage solemnised, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, may,
on a petition presented by either the husband or the wife, be dissolved by a decree of divorce
on the ground that the other party
16 [(i) has, after the solemnisation of the marriage, had voluntary sexual intercourse with any
person other than his or her spouse; or]
16 [(ia) has, after the solemnisation of the marriage, treated the petitioner with cruelty

REFERENCES

1. https://www.studocu.com/in/document/symbiosis-international-university/taxation-la
w/report-on-client-counselling-on-non-performance-of-contract/8728309
2. https://scc.duelibrary.in/Members/NoteView.aspx
3. https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1586025/
4. https://www.casemine.com/search/in/section%2B114a%2Bevidence%2Bact