IMPORTANT POINTS
All matters relating to designation of Senior Advocates in the Supreme Court of India and in all the High Courts of the country shall be dealt with by a permanent “Committee for Designation of Senior Advocates” headed by the Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India and consisting of two senior-most Judges of the Supreme Court of India (or High Court(s), the learned Attorney General for India (Advocate General of the State in case of a High Court). These four Members of the Permanent Committee will nominate another Member of the Bar to be the fifth Member of the Permanent Committee;
All applications including written proposals by the Hon’ble Judges will be submitted to the Committee Secretariat which will obtain and compile relevant data about the individual.
All the names that are listed before the Permanent Committee/cleared by the Permanent Committee will go to the Full Court;
All cases that have not been favourably considered by the Full Court may be reviewed/reconsidered after expiry of a period of two years;
Full Court may review its decision to designate the concerned person and recall the same in case of misconduct.

JUDGMENT :

RANJAN GOGOI, J.

1. The petitioner in Writ Petition (C) No. 454 of 2015 is a Senior Advocate designated by the High Court of Bombay in the year 1986. She has been in practice in the Supreme Court of India for the last several decades and has also served as an Additional Solicitor General for the Union of India. The perception of the petitioner that the present system of designation of Senior Advocates in the Supreme Court of India is flawed and the system needs to be rectified and acceptable parameters laid down has led to the institution of Writ Petition (C) No. 454 of 2015 with the following prayers.

“(a) Issue writ order, or direction declaring that the system of designation of Senior Advocates by recently introduced method of vote is arbitrary and contrary to the notions of diversity violating Articles 14, 15 and 21 and therefore, it is unconstitutional and null and void; and

(b) Issue writ order or direction for appointment of a permanent Selection Committee with a secretariat headed by a lay person, which includes the Respondent 4 Attorney General of India, representatives from the Respondent 5 –SCBA and the Respondent 6-AOR Association and academics, for the designation of Senior Advocates on the basis of an assessment made on a point system as suggested in Annexure P8; and

(c) Issue a writ of mandamus or direction directing the Respondent-1 representing Chief Justice and Judges of the Supreme Court to appoint a Search Committee to identify the Advocates who conduct Public Interest Litigation (PIL) cases and Advocates who practice in the area of their Domain Expertise viz., constitutional law, international arbitration, inter-State water disputes, cyber laws etc. and to designate them as Senior Advocates;

(d) Issue a writ of mandamus or direction directing the Respondent-1 representing Chief Justice and Judges of the Supreme Court to frame guidelines requiring the preparation of an Assessment Report by the Peers Committee on the Advocates who apply for designation based on an index 100 points as suggested in Annexure P8;

(e) Issue a writ of mandamus or direction directing the Respondent-1 representing Chief Justice and Judges of the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision taken in the Full Court held on 11.02.2014 and 23.04.2015 and designate as Senior Advocate all those Advocates whose applications seeking designation had received recommendation by not less than five Judges of the Supreme Court (including deferred applicants) during the process of circulation ordered by the Chief Justice.”

2. Legal practice in India, though a booming profession, success has come to a few select members of the profession, the vast majority of them being designated Senior Advocates. The issues raised in the writ petition, therefore, are highly contentious issues raising question of considerable magnitude so far as the Indian Bar and in fact the Country’s legal system is concerned. Intervention applications, as expected, have been filed by several individuals and associations, including the Bar Association of India. The Attorney General for India was requested to appear in the case and he has very magnanimously responded to the request of the Court by remaining present throughout the prolonged hearing that had taken place.

3. By Order of the Court dated 24.04.2017 passed in I.A. No. 5, notice of this case was directed to be put up on the website of this Court to enable the High Courts and the Bar Associations of the different High Courts to participate in the proceedings. Pursuant thereto many High Courts have communicated to the Registry of this Court “the Rules – (Guidelines)” framed by the High Courts in the matter of designation of Senior Advocates. The Gujarat High Court Advocates’ Association has filed an intervention application (I.A. No. 53321 of 2017) which goes beyond four corners of the writ petition itself inasmuch as