Dr. Adish Aggarwala, the President of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) has made strong comments on the practice of writing letters to the Chief Justice of India by senior members of the bar.
Aggarwala stated that there has been a growing tendency of writing such letters to sitting Chief Justices of India to exert undue pressure on the administration of justice and Such letters are written demonstratively with respect to a few selected cases and at the behest of some influential litigants.
Aggarwala in a statement he issued, said similar attempts made in the past with regard to past Chief Justices, the details of some of which are narrated hereunder. 2019: A letter has been written to the then Chief Justice of India stating without any basis that certain commercial matters were being listed before “benches of preference”
2020: A letter is written by the same member of the Bar to the then Chief Justice of India wherein he complained that while being present virtually, he was not being allowed to speak at the retirement function of the Supreme Court judge.
2020: A letter was written to the then Chief Justice of India alleging ‘improper’ urgent listing to the case relating to the newsreporter wherein unsubstantiated allegations of selective listings are made.
The letter stated that undignified behaviour with Hon’ble Judges by some Counsel a few days before their retirement has become a common phenomenon and is aimed at attracting publicity and creating an element of uneasiness among the judges, and to attract some select clientele who’s brief lacks anything on merit.
Further, the letter stated while owing to this misbehaviour by some senior counsel, the Bar suffers disgrace and the harmony between the Bar and the Bench gets disturbed. The ill behaving lawyers still stand to benefit because they attract clients who want to put pressure on the courts to decide cases in a certain manner. It has also been requested by the bar that Your Lordship to ignore these attempts which are nothing but self-serving attacks on the independence of the judiciary. The Bar has full faith and reposes full confidence in the neutrality and unprecedented administrative skill of Your Lordship and other Hon’ble companion Judges as a result of which the administration of justice. It is for the first time in the history of the Supreme Court that the last person standing in the queue has also been given equal and full access to justice. After Your Lordship took over as Chief Justice of India, all administrative issues have been streamlined right from mentioning of matters, listing of cases and other issues concerning the Registry and the conduct of hearings in the Supreme Court by all Hon’ble Judges boosts the confidence of every member of the Bar because the treatment being given to a young lawyer is the same which is accorded to a senior advocate. This has encouraged litigants to not be dependent upon only senior members of the Bar. Those who are unable to afford unrealistically high fees are also enthusiastically seeking justice and are being given a fair hearing, and relief as per the merit of their case. Perhaps the said treatment at par of younger members of the Bar has not gone down well with a few senior lawyers who have started making concerted efforts to overawe this system. Thus, I must assure Your Lordship that the entire Bar, except a few individuals, are fully satisfied with your leadership, both on the judicial side as well as on the administrative side.