Bar Council seeks details from High Court on senior advocate designations

Before taking any further action, the council unanimously resolved to seek clarity from the High Court on seven specific points, including whether the selection followed the old or new rules and if it conformed to the Supreme Court’s directions in Indira Jaising vs Supreme Court of India. The council also asked for data on marks awarded to individual candidates, the evaluation criteria, and whether such details were published before the Full Court’s final decision.

Other queries include whether the notification inviting applications was circulated to all district and sub-division bar associations, whether any candidates with little or no recent court appearances were considered, and if any special criteria were applied for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, or women advocates.

While the resolution was passed unanimously, member Hargobinder Singh Gill recorded his dissent. The council noted that it was duty-bound to safeguard the rights and privileges of advocates under Section 6(d) of the Advocates Act, 1961.

The meeting, attended both in person and virtually by 22 members, was deferred until October 31, when the issue of allotment of new enrolment numbers to the designated senior advocates will be discussed.