CJI DY Chandrachud responds to criticism against Senior Advocate designations

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud on Saturday observed that the present system of designating senior advocates helps break down certain barriers for lawyer who seek to excel.

CJI Chandrachud made the observation in the wake of criticism that arose recently, after the Supreme Court designated 39 lawyers in August as Senior Advocates.

While some quarters expressed concern over the names of applicants who got left out, others called for a return to the earlier system of designating Senior Advocates through a system of secret voting after full court deliberations.

Responding to this controversy, the CJI commented on the purpose of senior designations and argued that the focus should be on how it is a platform to excel, rather than a benchmark of excellence itself.

"We faced some critique about Seniors we designated. I was told the other day that some of the counsel we designated as Seniors are yet to gather work. I told them that the purpose of this broad designation was to convey the impression that in designating Seniors, we are creating a platform for others to excel. Obviously, you designate someone who has more than basic level of work, but by the designation we are allowing the bar to excel. Not all will do excellently at the bar 10 or 15 years down the line. But that is the same as appointing judges. Not every judge appointed to district judiciary or High Court achieves excellence," CJI Chandrachud said.

The CJI was speaking at the first International Supreme Court Advocates on Record (SCAORA) Legal Conference being held in Goa.

He added that the present process helps tackle the apprehension that the senior gown is only meant for a certain "closed group" of people.

"The effort in designating Seniors has been for the bar to understand that the Supreme Court bar, when it wants to aspire for improvement, should not be confronted with a barrier that it is a closed group of people and that designation would be conferred only on them. We wanted to convey that to lawyers across India, especially women lawyers, that we will allow the bar to prosper," the CJI explained.

The current system of Senior Advocate designations calls for eligible lawyers to apply for the senior gown, who would then be scored on various parameters.

This point-system was introduced in 2017 following the Supreme Court's verdict in the Indira Jaising case. It replaced a system where the senior advocate gown was conferred by a secret vote after deliberation by a full court.

In a May 2023 judgment by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, the Court added that the method of “secret voting” by the full court could be done only in exceptional cases, but not as a rule.

In August this year, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta and Supreme Court Bar Association President Kapil Sibal met CJI Chandrachud and suggested that the point system introduced by the Indira Jaising ruling should be revisited for future designations.

During the meeting, it was pointed out that since the designation of a lawyer as a Senior advocate is an honour conferred for one's contributions, it may not be appropriate to require the lawyer to apply for such a designation.

It was broadly suggested that a formula could be evolved by the Court which may involve taking inputs from a body of senior judges and bar members, who could recommend the senior designation for lawyers who have contributed to the Court and jurisprudence. The matter could be finalised by a full court only after all judges have seen the performance of such a recommended lawyer, it was added.

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