A bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi, however, rejected the plea that section 16 of the 1961 Advocates Act, which empowers the apex court or a High Court to designate senior advocates, should be held as unconstitutional.
"It is not an uncontrolled, unguided, uncanalised power, though in a given case its exercise may partake such a character. However, the possibility of misuse cannot be a ground for holding a provision of the Statute to be constitutionally fragile...
Disposing four petitions including one filed by senior advocate Indira Jaising, the bench, in its 112-page judgement, laid down as many as 11 guidelines to effectively deal with the process of designating lawyers as seniors.
"All matters relating to designation of senior advocates in the Supreme Court and in all the High Courts of the country shall be dealt with by a Permanent Committee to be known as 'Committee for Designation of Senior Advocates'," it said.
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On giving the Bar representation, it said "the four Members of the Permanent Committee will nominate another Member of the Bar to be the fifth Member of the Permanent Committee".
The committee shall have a permanent Secretariat, the composition of which will be decided by the CJI or "the Chief Justices of the High Courts, as may be, in consultation with the other Members of the Permanent Committee", it said.
It said the secretariat would collect the data and their sources for perusal and decision by the CJI-led committee.
"The Secretariat will publish the proposal of designation of a particular Advocate in the official website of the concerned Court inviting the suggestions/views of other stakeholders in the proposed designation," it said.
The apex court said that 100 points would be awarded under different heads to the lawyers seeking consideration for being designated as seniors.
Maximum of 20 points would be earmarked for the years spent in the legal profession, it said, adding that 40 points would be given for aspects such as judgements to which the lawyer has been a part, pro-bono litigations, domain of expertise in branches of law.
All the names listed before the Permanent Committee or cleared by it, will go to the Full Court comprising all judges of concerned High Courts or the apex court for approval, it said.
"Voting by secret ballot will not normally be resorted to by the Full Court, except when unavoidable. In the event of resort to secret ballot, decisions will be carried by a majority of the Judges who have chosen to exercise their preference/choice," it said.
If a senior lawyer is found to be guilty of misconduct, "the Full Court may review its decision to designate the concerned person and recall the same," it said.
The bench said the guidelines may not be exhaustive and "may require reconsideration in the light of the experience to be gained over a period of time.
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