SG Tushar Mehta, Kapil Sibal meet CJI DY Chandrachud over future process of Senior designation

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta and Supreme Court Bar Association President Kapil Sibal recently met Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud over the process being followed by the top court for designation of lawyers as Senior Advocates based upon the Indira Jaising judgment..Bar & Bench has learnt that the CJI was requested that for future designations, the judgment in case of Indira Jaising needs to be revisited. SG Mehta confirmed the same while Sibal declined to comment. The meeting with the CJI was held on August 13, a day before the top court in a full court meeting designated 39 lawyers as Senior Advocates. 138 lawyers, including 68 advocates-on-record (AoRs), had applied for the senior gown. Out of this list, 71 were shortlisted for interviews, after which the list was trimmed to 39, who were conferred the gown. .This list of lawyers or others presently under consideration for senior designation were not discussed at the meeting. Rather, CJI Chandrachud was requested to examine whether the Court could revisit the 2017 Indira Jaising judgment on senior designations for future designations.In that judgment, the top court had held that a five-member permanent committee headed by the CJI should be set up for short-listing candidates after inviting applications and allotment of marks based upon various fixed criteria. Similar guidelines were issued for 24 High Courts across the country. The CJI was also requested to revisit the May 2023 judgment by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul which held that method of “secret voting” by the full court should be the exception and not the rule..SG Mehta and SCBA President Sibal jointly met the CJI on August 13. When contacted by Bar & Bench, SG Mehta said that during this meeting, it was suggested that Indira Jaising judgment be revisited. 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. The CJI was very courteous and receptive during the discussion, the SG said. It was also made clear that only a future course of action is being suggested and that no changes were suggested for the list of candidates already under consideration. The new regime, if at all it comes, may be applied to only future designations.SG Mehta declined to divulge further details since such matters are of a confidential nature. However, he added that the CJI was very receptive to the common concerns raised on improving the system of senior designations in the future. .Mehta also clarified that the meeting with the CJI was not to request that any particular person be conferred the gown but to request that he revisit the process in its entirety."It was not to request designation of A or B, but senior designation in its entirety," he said.Sibal declined to comment."These are confidential meetings and I would not like to speak about it at all," he said..The recent designations, which was undertaken following the guidelines laid down in the Indira Jaising case, attracted a fair share of controversy, with certain lawyers objecting to the fact that deserving candidates had been left out even without being shortlisted for the interview.