Published on :
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Advocate on Record Association (SCAORA) has filed an application before the top court seeking a direction to the Committee for Designation of Senior Advocates (CDSA) to conclude the process of appointing senior advocates with regard to applications that were invited in February 2022 [Indira Jaising v Supreme Court of India].
The application said that pursuant to the judgment in the case of Indira Jaising v Supreme Court of India, the Supreme Court had framed the Supreme Court Guidelines to Regulate Conferment of Designation of Senior Advocate, 2018 under which the CDSA was required to meet at least twice a year.
“Clause 8 provides that each year in the month of January and July, the Secretariat of the CDSA shall invite applications from Advocates/ AoRs seeking designation as Senior Advocate. Thus, under the 2018 Guidelines, the process of designation as Senior Advocate is required to be undertaken twice a year,” the plea pointed out.
Further, the application said that after the judgment, the process was initiated in 2018 and concluded in 2019. However, the next round of applications was sought only in February 2022.
The same has not been concluded yet, it was pointed out.
“The said process is not yet concluded even though almost one year has elapsed, causing anxiety amongst the members of the applicant,” the application said.
Therefore, the apex court was urged to pass an order directing the CDSA to conclude the ongoing process of designation at the earliest and without any further delay
The application was filed through Advocate-on-Record Devvrat.
The landmark judgment dealing with the issue of appointment of senior counsel was rendered by the top court in 2017. It laid down the criteria for senior designations which will be applicable to all High Courts and the Supreme Court.
As per the guidelines, there would be a CDSA for each court and all applications for designation would go to the permanent committee comprising the Chief Justice, two senior most judges, Attorney General/Advocate General and an eminent member of the bar nominated by the other four members.
