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News Topical, Digital Desk : The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed concern over the summons and notices sent to lawyers by investigation agencies and police. Taking cognizance of such a case, the court said that allowing defense lawyers advising the parties in a case to be directly summoned by investigation agencies, police would seriously undermine the autonomy of the legal profession and even pose a direct threat to the independence of the administration of justice.
Prima facie any such action is unacceptable- Supreme Court
The apex court said that prima facie such action is unacceptable. The court has decided to consider the matter and has also fixed some questions for consideration. A bench of Justices KV Vishwanathan and N. Kotishwar Singh made these remarks during the hearing of a case from Gujarat.
The court, while deciding to consider the matter, said that during the hearing of the case, the assistance of Attorney General R. Venkataramani, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, Bar Council of India President Manan Kumar Mishra, Supreme Court Bar Association President Vikas Singh and Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association President Vipin Nair would be needed. The court said that two questions are worth considering.
It is not right to call the police directly to the lawyer
First, when a person is engaged only as a lawyer advising a party, should the investigating agency, prosecution or the police directly call the lawyer.
The second question is, suppose the agency has a case where the role of the person is not merely that of a lawyer but something else, should they still issue summons directly or should judicial monitoring be prescribed for such exceptional situation.
The effectiveness of the administration of justice is at stake
The Court said that both these issues need to be addressed on a comprehensive basis as at stake is the efficacy of the administration of justice and the ability of lawyers to discharge their professional duties honestly and, most importantly, fearlessly.
The court said that since this matter directly affects the administration of justice, it does not seem appropriate to detain a professional...when he is a lawyer in the case...prima facie, the court will have to consider this further.
In this case, the Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by a Gujarat lawyer challenging the High Court's order of June 12. The High Court had refused to cancel the notice summoning the lawyer to appear before the police in a case against his client.
The court has also issued notice to the Gujarat government
Considering the importance of the matter, the bench has directed to present it before the Chief Justice of India for appropriate directions. However, the court has granted interim relief to the lawyer summoned by the Gujarat Police in the present case. The court directed that in the meantime the order of the High Court will be stayed and the execution of the summons and other notices issued to the petitioner will also be stayed. The court has also issued notice to the Gujarat government.
what was the matter
The comments made by the Supreme Court regarding summons and notices to lawyers are important in view of the recent developments. Recently, the ED had issued summons to senior Supreme Court lawyers Arvind Dattar and Pratap Venugopal in connection with an investigation, to which various lawyers' associations had strongly reacted and opposed it. A letter was also written to the CJI. After which the Enforcement Directorate had withdrawn the summons. The ED had also issued a circular regarding notices and summons to lawyers.
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