SEBI Sahara – Rajeev Dhavan replaced as Sahara case becomes “Lawyers’ Graveyard”

Senior Advocate Rajeev Dhavan will no longer appear for Sahara or Subrata Roy in the Sebi Sahara dispute before the Supreme Court. He has been replaced by Senior Advocate KTS Tulsi, who becomes one in the long list of senior lawyers who have been engaged by the Sahara group..Dhavan’s exit is particularly interesting given the fact that he has been the most vociferous of all the lawyers engaged by Sahara. Engaging in heated discussion with the Bench almost to the point of telling them off, Dhavan’s belligerence had been a subject matter of debate and controversy in the corridors of the Supreme Court..After Roy was sent to jail, Dhavan had very strongly come down upon Justices KS Radhakrishnan and JS Khehar for their alleged “terribly terribly wrong” order. During one such hearing, Dhavan had gone to the extent of remarking that,.“Respect is a matter of court discipline. If I were to meet you outside the court, it might be different.”.During another hearing, Dhavan, while arguing in his inimitable, slow style, was asked to wrap up his arguments and not to repeat what the other lawyers had already argued. An infuriated Dhavan had replied that he will argue till he was done and that the judges will have to give him audience..Things did not end there. Dhavan also made an appearance during the contempt proceedings against the lawyer who had smeared ink on Subrata Roy’s face. When the hearing was over, Dhavan interfered and asked the judges to pass an order in the Habeas Corpus petition urgently on the ground that Roy was finding it difficult to bear the summer heat in jail. The judges were confounded by this act and had left the courtroom without a word..The Court, on its part, had responded very strongly in its judgment in the Habeas Corpus petition by criticising Dhavan and Jethmalani for their “psychological offensives, mind games, affronts, jibes and consciously planned snubs” against the Bench. .It would seem that the final nail in the coffin was the dialogue which Dhavan had with Justice Thakur after the Court turned down Roy’s request for a forty-day parole. Dhavan could not digest certain remarks by Justice Thakur and had objected to what he perceived as Justice Thakur “making fun of him.” This unprecedented incident had left those present in the courtroom perplexed..Subsequently, it was learnt that Dhavan had been replaced by Tulsi..The SEBI Sahara case has proved to be a tough nut to crack with a number of Senior Advocates withdrawing from the case midway; Ram Jethmalani and Aryama Sundaram are two such examples..The following lawyers have appeared for Sahara till date:.1. Ram Jethmalani 2. Aryama Sundaram 3. Rajeev Dhavan 4. S Ganesh 5. Fali Nariman 6. Ravi Shankar Prasad 7. Gopal Subramanium 8. Rakesh Dwivedi 9. PH Parekh 10. Abhishek Manu Singhvi 11. KTS Tulsi12. UU Lalit.SEBI has been represented all along by Senior Advocate Arvind Datar along with Advocate Pratap Venugopal from KJ John & Co..Image of Rajeev Dhavan taken from here.

SEBI Sahara – Rajeev Dhavan replaced as Sahara case becomes “Lawyers’ Graveyard”

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