NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has highlighted several flaws in the current process for designating lawyers as Senior Advocates and referred the matter to Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna to consider whether a larger bench should be formed to address the issues raised.
The bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan expressed doubt on whether an interview of a few minutes was sufficient to test the personality or suitability of a candidate while noting that 25 of the 100 points are assigned for interviews.
“We mean no disrespect towards the two binding decisions [in Indira Jaising case], and we are recording our concerns only to enable the Chief Justice to decide whether the doubt expressed by us needs to be considered by a larger bench,” the Court said.
The Bench noted that no advocate can request designation as a Senior Advocate, as it is a privilege granted by the Supreme Court or High Court with the lawyer’s consent.
“The duty of the Permanent Committee is to make its overall assessment of the advocate concerned based on a point-based formula. No other method of making an overall assessment has been provided,” it observed.
The Court further observed that it is indisputable that an advocate lacking integrity or fairness is not entitled to be designated as a Senior Advocate.
