“Senior designations should not be by voting, because it leads to lobbying”, Indira Jaising

Senior Counsel and former ASG Indira Jaising today made vehement submissions to revamp the system for designating lawyers as Senior Advocates before the Bench presided by the Chief Justice of India..The Bench, which also comprised Justices DY Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao, heard the senior lawyer at length today. But if the reactions of CJI TS Thakur are any indicator, the current designation process is unlikely to undergo much change..The thrust of Jaising’s submissions today was that the current method of designating lawyers was through voting by judges and that led to unhealthy lobbying. She submitted that there should be an objective evaluation of the candidates..“I am concerned with decision making process by the full court. It should not be done by voting, it leads to unhealthy lobbying. It is not an election. Voting process is adopted for election.”.She also suggested that there be a point system by which each judge will have to give marks to each candidate for different criteria. Integrity, experience in law, special knowledge, standing at the Bar etc. were suggested by the Senior Counsel as some of the criteria to be considered..“Your lordships can prescribe a cut – off mark. Based on the marks obtained by the candidate, they can be designated.”.Jaising also said that she had a few disagreements with regard to the suggestions made by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi..Rohatgi had suggested that a committee consisting of the Attorney General and two other eminent members of the Bar recommend candidates for consideration by the court to confer the gown. As per the the AG’s suggestion, eminent members are to be nominated by the AG himself. Jaising said that the eminent persons to the committee should be nominated by the CJI..She also said that the AG’s report is silent as regards the criteria to be taken into account by the three member committee while suggesting names to the full court. She submitted,.“I have, therefore, put forth my criteria which your lordships can consider or reject.”.As the hearing drew to a close, Rohatgi submitted that the designation process should not be put on hold and that it should continue as per the present process. He said,.“It can be made subject to the outcome of this case.”.Jaising, however, opposed this vehemently..“You cannot withdraw a Senior Designation once conferred. So nobody should be designated till the next hearing.”.The court will now continue hearing the case on October 21.