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The Supreme Court on Wednesday put an end to the privilege of senior lawyers being allowed to urge the Chief Justice to give early hearing to important matters. The court clarified that only Advocates On Record (AORs) can do the exercise, called “mentioning” in legal parlance.
The development comes a day after a lawyer complained to Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra that he did not get a chance to mention a matter despite waiting for nearly half-an-hour while seniors were getting multiple chances.
“Not everyone can afford a senior counsel,” Advocate P V Dinesh had told the court, inviting comments from the bench that he was trying to lecture the court.
As soon as the court met on Wednesday, some seniors rose to mention matters but the CJI told them, “Only Advocates on Record will mention henceforth.”
The CJI, being the administrative head, has the power to allow out-of-turn listing for cases that may deem important. From time to time, Chief Justices have adopted varying stances on the exercise — while some permit seniors, others keep checks.
CJI Misra had accommodated as many lawyers as he could in the limited time, which is often about 20 minutes when the court meets for the day. But this mostly benefits clients who could afford senior lawyers to appear and secure an early hearing for their case.
On Tuesday, things went wrong with the waiting juniors registering their objection. “We cannot spend the whole day and allow mentioning to go on like this,” the bench, also comprising Justices Amitava Roy and A M Khanwilkar, said when the counsel complained that he had been waiting in vain.
The bench said all matters that could not be mentioned for urgent listing and hearing will be listed after the Dussehra vacation on October 3 or 6.
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