AoRs must mark appearance of only those lawyers authorised to appear, argue: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Friday said that advocates-on-record (AoR) in a given case must mark the appearance of only those lawyers who are authorized to appear and argue that case on the particular day [Bhagwan Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh and Others].

A Division Bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma said that names of appearing advocates shall be informed by the AoR on each day of hearing as instructed in a 2022 notice.

"From the bare reading of Notice, it clearly transpires that the Notice only permits the Advocate-On-Record to mark the appearances of the Advocates appearing in the Court, through the link provided on the website or on the office mobile app of the Supreme Court. Advocate on Record may mark the appearances of those Advocates who are actually appearing in the case i.e. the Advocate-on-Record and the Advocates who are going to appear and argue the case on a particular day of hearing," the Court said.

If there is any change in the name of the arguing advocate, it shall be duty of the concerned AoR to inform the concerned court master in advance or at the time of hearing of the case and the concerned officers/ court masters shall act accordingly, the Court added.

The direction was passed in a case where a litigant had denied filing a special leave petition (SLP) and had claimed that he had not hired any of the lawyers to represent him.

The Court has also directed a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter.

Calling it a 'fraud committed on courts', the Court highlighted how advocates are often involved in the ill-motivated litigations of dishonest litigants, and assist them in misusing and abusing the process of law to achieve their ulterior purposes.

During a previous hearing in the case on August 28, the Court had taken note of the issue of multiple advocates' names appearing on the order sheets for a single party. It had, therefore, directed the registry to explain the basis for the inclusion of so many names.

In its judgment delivered today, the Court placed reliance on an order passed by a coordinate bench on August 29. In that order, it had been directed that only lawyers who are physically or virtually present during hearings may have their appearances marked in the court's records, orders or judgments.

The Court also referred to a December 2022 notice with instructions for AoRs on marking appearances of advocates.

"The Advocate on Record is expected to know before 11:30 a.m. on the date of hearing as to which Advocate/Advocates is/are going to appear/argue the particular case, and is accordingly required to mark their appearances as instructed in the Notice. The Notice nowhere permits the Advocates-on-Record to mark appearances of the Advocates who are not authorized either to appear and argue the case," the Court observed.

[Read Judgment]