Smrithi Suresh & Anuj Agrawal.Honest Bar, an initiative by lawyers including DHCBA President Rajiv Khosla, has recently come out with a study on the appointment of Local Commissioners by the Delhi High Court..And it makes for some very interesting reading..The website, created to “address and highlight” the ills that plague the Indian judicial system, provides a comprehensive list of Local Commissioners appointed by different judges of the Delhi High Court over the course of the last two years..The tables (2015 & 2016) also indicate the fees payable to the Local Commissioner/ Arbitrator appointed..The law of the Local Commissioner.Under the Code of Civil Procedure, courts can “issue commissions” whereby a “commissioner” is appointed to undertake a specific “local” task. Such tasks can include recording evidence, inspecting a property that is being litigated upon etc..Chapter 10 of the Delhi High Court Rules [pdf] includes guidelines concerned with the appointment of Local Commissioners, including need to “exercise great care” in these appointments. The intention of these guidelines is reflected in certain provisions; Part B for instance says that commissioners for recording evidence should “ordinarily be younger members of the Bar”, and not “men in large practice”..What the “Honest Bar” says.It is HB’s claim that these non-binding guidelines are not followed. In fact, Delhi’s courts are “least bothered” with these guidelines, leading to “allegations of favouritism and nepotism”. It appears that the DHCBA had provided a list of lawyers who could be appointed “on rotation basis” but the same has not been acted upon..To prove their point, the team at Honest Bar have relied on detailed charts pertaining to the appointment of LCs and Arbitrators for the years of 2016 and 2015. The data also points out to lawyers who have been appointed more than once. As per the data, a few retired Supreme Court judges have been appointed arbitrators on multiple occasions, often by different judges..Some of the findings are as follows:.LC’s include former judges, court clerks.LC fees range from INR 30,000/- to 2,00,000/-Non-members of DHCBA have been appointed as LC’s.Speaking to Bar & Bench, Rajiv Khosla said that,.“This issue has been taken up the Bar Association several times. This time around, the Chief Justice and other senior judges assured us that appropriate action will be taken and also told us to compile a list of Commissions awarded to lawyers. Accordingly we made the list that you can see on the website and gave it to the judges but so far no action has been taken.”.Commenting on the data, Khosla added,.“We looked into all orders passed by the judges regarding LC appointments. Despite High Court Rules that expressly state that Commissions should only be given to youngsters, several senior lawyers and retired judges are reaping the benefits. .Appointments of LC is also a duty of the State Government but unfortunately, neither the Government has made any list nor has the High Court..We are also planning to file a writ petition in the High Court over the issue. Some mechanism and uniformity should be there. Junior lawyers who do not get paid much, should be tested for credentials and awarded LCs for this money will help them. .The B&B take.The fact of the matter is that courts are often careful in appointing Local Commissioners, especially in high-stake matters. The appointment of certain lawyers, or former judges, on multiple occasions does not necessarily support allegations of nepotism. And when it comes to the Delhi High Court, there are judges who very often appoint junior lawyers as Local Commissioners as a means of encouragement..However, what does merit another look is DHCBA’s request for details of the Local Commissioners to be published online, as well as considering the list of advocates provided by the DHCBA..Given that the High Court has been one of the few to embrace newer technologies, it would be appropriate if these details were indeed uploaded online..You can view the entire list of LC’s appointed below.
Smrithi Suresh & Anuj Agrawal.Honest Bar, an initiative by lawyers including DHCBA President Rajiv Khosla, has recently come out with a study on the appointment of Local Commissioners by the Delhi High Court..And it makes for some very interesting reading..The website, created to “address and highlight” the ills that plague the Indian judicial system, provides a comprehensive list of Local Commissioners appointed by different judges of the Delhi High Court over the course of the last two years..The tables (2015 & 2016) also indicate the fees payable to the Local Commissioner/ Arbitrator appointed..The law of the Local Commissioner.Under the Code of Civil Procedure, courts can “issue commissions” whereby a “commissioner” is appointed to undertake a specific “local” task. Such tasks can include recording evidence, inspecting a property that is being litigated upon etc..Chapter 10 of the Delhi High Court Rules [pdf] includes guidelines concerned with the appointment of Local Commissioners, including need to “exercise great care” in these appointments. The intention of these guidelines is reflected in certain provisions; Part B for instance says that commissioners for recording evidence should “ordinarily be younger members of the Bar”, and not “men in large practice”..What the “Honest Bar” says.It is HB’s claim that these non-binding guidelines are not followed. In fact, Delhi’s courts are “least bothered” with these guidelines, leading to “allegations of favouritism and nepotism”. It appears that the DHCBA had provided a list of lawyers who could be appointed “on rotation basis” but the same has not been acted upon..To prove their point, the team at Honest Bar have relied on detailed charts pertaining to the appointment of LCs and Arbitrators for the years of 2016 and 2015. The data also points out to lawyers who have been appointed more than once. As per the data, a few retired Supreme Court judges have been appointed arbitrators on multiple occasions, often by different judges..Some of the findings are as follows:.LC’s include former judges, court clerks.LC fees range from INR 30,000/- to 2,00,000/-Non-members of DHCBA have been appointed as LC’s.Speaking to Bar & Bench, Rajiv Khosla said that,.“This issue has been taken up the Bar Association several times. This time around, the Chief Justice and other senior judges assured us that appropriate action will be taken and also told us to compile a list of Commissions awarded to lawyers. Accordingly we made the list that you can see on the website and gave it to the judges but so far no action has been taken.”.Commenting on the data, Khosla added,.“We looked into all orders passed by the judges regarding LC appointments. Despite High Court Rules that expressly state that Commissions should only be given to youngsters, several senior lawyers and retired judges are reaping the benefits. .Appointments of LC is also a duty of the State Government but unfortunately, neither the Government has made any list nor has the High Court..We are also planning to file a writ petition in the High Court over the issue. Some mechanism and uniformity should be there. Junior lawyers who do not get paid much, should be tested for credentials and awarded LCs for this money will help them. .The B&B take.The fact of the matter is that courts are often careful in appointing Local Commissioners, especially in high-stake matters. The appointment of certain lawyers, or former judges, on multiple occasions does not necessarily support allegations of nepotism. And when it comes to the Delhi High Court, there are judges who very often appoint junior lawyers as Local Commissioners as a means of encouragement..However, what does merit another look is DHCBA’s request for details of the Local Commissioners to be published online, as well as considering the list of advocates provided by the DHCBA..Given that the High Court has been one of the few to embrace newer technologies, it would be appropriate if these details were indeed uploaded online..You can view the entire list of LC’s appointed below.
