AUTHOR-IN-LAW
Although involved in a profession reputed to be dominated by nepotism and favouritism, Bharat Upreti is known not only as a highly sought after corporate lawyer but also as someone who took disciplinary action against more than 15 lawyers during his two-year tenure in the disciplinary committee of the Nepal Bar Association.
He explains that his failure in the election for the Chairman of the Bar Association of the Supreme Court twice is the fall-out from the bold decisions he took. He now feels that his candidacy in the elections was the biggest blunder in his career as many of his colleagues deserted him. Nevertheless, Upreti does not regret his actions because he believes that the guilty must be punished.
Upreti is the author of major books related to corporate laws and runs a consultancy with an enviable assortment of domestic as well as a foreign client-base and his company contributes millions of rupees annually as taxes. He has drafted the internal rules for many reputed companies, worked in formulating company law and has dozens of books on law published in his name. His latest books on company law are being written in series.
He says his motivation towards writing books regarding company law is to establish corporate governance in Nepal . Without corporate governance, he feels lending agencies do not give loans and this halts capital formation. Moreover, transparency helps in generating more revenue for the government, stops revenue leakages and shareholders cannot be swindled by the management. But neither private organisations nor the government in Nepal adhere to the law. "The main goal behind writing books is to change the current system and instil the spirit of corporate governance here," he says.
When asked about his mantra for success, he underscores his hard work, his trait of never looking back and his trust in his team, which he says he has selected meticulously and in turn it has helped him a lot. He also just goes with the flow and faces situations as they come. But in doing so, he never stops putting his honest and best effort into his work. He believes that tomorrow is the outcome of today's work and always concentrates his efforts and thoughts on the present.
Early Days
Born in 2007 B.S. (the year the Rana oligarchy was brought to an end) and brought up in Sindhupalchowk district, Upreti had to wait till he was 11-years-old to go to school. His father had a firm belief on the prediction of astrologers that the world would come to an end in 2018 B.S., so there was no reason why his son should go to school and prepare for the future. It was only after the prediction was proved wrong that young Upreti started school which was a day's walk away. During his school days, he was an average student and passed his SLC in 2024 B.S. in the second division. Nevertheless he got a scholarship to study Intermediate in Commerce in Tri-Chandra College as he could show that his father was a simple farmer. After completing his Intermediate level, he started working as a proof reader in the government-owned Gorkhapatra daily so as to earn enough to continue his Bachelor's level study and support his brothers as well. He was in the same job when he got his BL degree from Nepal Law Campus.
He admits that his decision to study law was made without much forethought. "I joined the course simply because I had enough leisure time during the day after my night-shifts as a proof reader. But he was among the only eight in his class who managed to pass the BL exam, so he became confident that he could build a successful career as a lawyer. He then joined the Master's level in law and after completing it, he started teaching in Law College with the hope that he would get enough opportunities for research and sharpen himself as a good scholar.
When he couldn't receive any law research projects in the university, he decided to do something on his own. "I realised then that the only University of the country at that time was tangled up in political games," he says.
Personal Side
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Loves reading books related to constitutional development, economic development and law. Regularly reads The Economist.
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Time management mantra: "The more you develop your team by hiring the right persons and training and sustaining them, the more efficient you become in managing your time."
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Philanthropy: Doesn't go to temples but has been providing scholarships in the name of his father to farmers' children in an engineering college.
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Hobbies: Loves nature and has a keen interest in gardening. Spends about two hours every week gardening. Goes to Sanga village frequently where he has a weekend retreat and feels that it is equivalent to the place where he was born.
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Dress: Loves sporty and light wear. Black Bata or Bally shoes, though not so brand conscious.
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But the major turning point in life, he admits, was when Senior Advocate Kusum Shrestha suggested that he specialise in corporate law. "With Shrestha as my mentor, I was exposed to the whole world of corporate and business law and it was with his inspiration that I could write and publish my first book on company law in 2040 BS," he recalls. German donors provided him funds for this. After his book was published, he never looked back. He focused all his efforts on research and publishing other books. His own firm Pioneer Law Associates was set up in 2041 BS along with four friends.
The Happiest Man
Upreti says, "I am the happiest man you will ever find…There are two things in life that makes a man unhappy. One is the act of comparing oneself with another colleague who has prospered. And the other is the ultimate dream of owning a single thing. If for any reason he doesn't own what he desires, he becomes frustrated. I have put myself away from these feelings and I will always try to be this way."
Talking about the judiciary, Upreti feels that there are not enough lawyers and judges who have the expertise to handle trade and business related disputes in Nepal . Moreover, incompetent judges handling complicated cases provide room for bureaucratic conspiracies and this is ruining the image of the judiciary. Neither the general Nepali people nor the international community has a positive image of our judiciary, admits Upreti. He believes that an independent commercial judiciary should be set up and experts should be appointed to make fair and transparent decisions. Until and unless there is a fair and independent judiciary in the country without any political influences, a smooth economy cannot be dreamt of, asserts Upreti.
Upreti claims to be a man who stands by his principles at work. "My principles are always dictated by the sole philosophy of my profession that you shouldn't give the client fake assurances of winning if their cases are principally incorrect or are fundamentally weak. That is why I didn't take up the case of NB Bank though I was the first lawyer chosen to defend it," he maintains.
