SC seeks reply on plea on designation of lawyers as senior

The Supreme Court today sought the stands of its secretary general and various bars on a plea seeking stay on the practice of designating lawyers as senior till a norm is evolved for it.

A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Navin Sinha issued notices to the Supreme Court Bar Association and the Bar Council of India on the plea by senior advocate Indira Jaising who also said the "view of the full bench" of the court, while designating an advocate as senior, should be known.

"Please see the prayers. We need to know the view of the full bench," she told the bench.
 

Jaising said she had mentioned the matter on March 29 before Chief Justice J S Khehar who had posted it for hearing today as per the apex court roaster.

A batch of petitions have been filed for framing guidelines to designate lawyers as senior by the apex court and the high courts.

Jaising, who has filed the public interest litigation in her personal capacity, had sought an early hearing on the plea saying the issue of according designation is currently stalled and it will have wide ramifications across the country.

The top court had earlier set up a three-judge bench for hearing the pleas for framing guidelines for designating lawyers as senior.

It had considered the argument that there should be no ban on designating a lawyer as senior by the apex court and the high courts till the pleas are decided.

Jaising has sought transparency and overhaul of the "opaque system" of designating lawyers as senior advocate and said the apex court should deal with the matter on "judicial side" and frame uniform guidelines on the issue.

The court had also tagged with Jaising's plea a petition pending in the Delhi High Court which has challenged the provisions of the Advocates Act on designating lawyers as senior.

The petition in the high court has challenged the constitutional validity of the sections 16 and 23 (5) of the Advocates Act, 1961 which provide the statutory basis for designating lawyers as senior advocates.