Supreme Court seeks Delhi High Court response on plea against senior designation of 70 lawyers

The Supreme Court recently sought the response of the Delhi High Court on a petition challenging the High Court's conferment of senior designation on 79 lawyers. .A Bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan on February 17 directed the Registrar General of the High court to produce a copy of the report of the permanent committee which prepares the final list of candidates which is then sent to the full court for approval."Issue notice for the time being to the first respondent i.e., Registrar General of the High Court of Delhi, returnable on 24th February, 2025. We direct the Registrar General to produce a copy of the report of the Permanent Committee in a sealed cover," the top court directed..The Court was hearing a plea by advocate Raman Gandhi seeking quashing of the recent decision of the full court of the High Court to confer senior designation on 70 lawyers..The full court of the Delhi High Court had on November 29, 2024 designated 70 lawyers as Senior Advocates. The Delhi High Court had interviewed 302 lawyers for the same before conferring the gown on 70.However, the decision became mired in controversy after one of the members of the permanent committee resigned over claims that the final list was prepared without his consent.The permanent committee is a body which shortlists the candidates to be designated. This list is then sent to the full court which takes the final call.The permanent committee of the Delhi High Court includes Chief Justice, Justice Vibhu Bakhru, Justice Yashwant Varma, Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, and Senior Advocates Mohit Mathur and Sudhir Nandrajog.According to sources, Nandrajog, also a representative of Delhi government, did not sign the final list which was circulated to the full court for deliberation, as he was busy in an arbitration during the relevant period. It was also claimed that the final list was not the list that was decided upon and that the original list was tampered with..In light of the above facts, the Supreme Court on February 17 also issued notice to Nandrajog seeking his response."In view of prayer clause (c), issue notice to Shri Sudhir Nandrajog, Senior Advocate, returnable on the same date (February 25)," the Supreme Court said in its order. .Earlier the top court bench led by Justices BR Gavai and AG Masih had declined to entertain a similar plea filed by advocate Sanjay Dubey and another one by advocate Mathews Nedumapra which was heard by Justice Surya Kant led bench. .[Read Order]