There are problems in some High Courts with regard to Senior Designations: Chief Justice of India NV Ramana

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana remarked on Monday that there are problems plaguing the method followed by certain High Courts regarding designation of lawyers as Senior Advocates.

He said that he will list the case relating to senior designation of lawyers within two weeks before a three-judge Bench of the apex court.

"I am looking into this. There are problems in some high courts with regard to senior designation. We will constitute a three-judge bench too," he said.

The remarks were made after Senior Advocate Indira Jaising mentioned a plea before the Supreme Court with regard to adherence by High Courts to the guidelines issued by the top court in its 2017 judgment in Indira Jaising v. Supreme Court of India on designation of Senior Advocates.

In her plea, Jaising has sought clarification on whether voting by secret ballot on each and every potential Senior designation is arbitrary, discriminatory and violative of the directions in the 2017 judgment.

The application filed in Jaising's 2017 case stated that the High Courts of Delhi and Punjab & Haryana have designated lawyers as Senior Advocates in a manner contrary to the 2017 judgment.

Even after marks are assigned to a candidate by the Committee set up under the respective High Court Senior Designation Rules, each and every candidate was put to vote by the Full Court, it was pointed out.

Consequently, even those who obtained the requisite cut-off marks decided upon by the High Court could not get designated for not obtaining the required number of votes, the plea said.

This issue has been pending for long, Jaising told the Court today.

The CJI assured that he is looking into it and said that matter will be heard soon.