ITEM NO.13 COURT NO.5 SECTION X

S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A

RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

Writ Petition (Civil) No. 771/2022

MARYADA BHATT BANERJEE Petitioner(s)

VERSUS

THE HONBLE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Respondent(s)

(FOR ADMISSION and IA No.134777/2022-GRANT OF INTERIM RELIEF and IA

No.134778/2022-PERMISSION TO APPEAR AND ARGUE IN PERSON )

Date : 14-11-2022 This petition was called on for hearing today.

CORAM :

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.R. SHAH

HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE HIMA KOHLI

For Petitioner(s) Petitioner-in-person

For Respondent(s)

UPON hearing Petitioner-in-person the Court made the following

O R D E R

By way of this petition under Article 32 of the

Constitution of India, the petitioner in person, who is a

practicing lawyer and has been allotted one half of Chamber

No.25, has prayed for the following reliefs -

“a) Issue a writ of Mandamus, appropriate directions

and/or orders upholding/regularising the allotment to

the petitioner of one half portion of Chamber No.25

allotted to her vide letter dated 08.04.2008 or

regularization vide letter dated 20.07.2022 as against

provisional allotment as the administrative duty of the

respondent;

b) Issue a writ of Prohibition for striking out the

portion that demands an irrevocable undertaking without

the authority of law or rules vide letter dated

20.07.2022 to stand corrected;

c) Issue a direction, order or such other clarification

in order that the Registry be estopped from going back

on its own allotment letter dated 08.04.2008 and not

convert regular allotment into provisional allotment in

contd..

Digitally signed by

Neetu Sachdeva

Date: 2022.11.17

15:07:14 IST

Reason:

Signature Not Verified

- 2 -

as much as the actions of the administrative arm of the

Supreme Court of India infringes the fundamental rights

of the petitioner under Article 19(1)(g) and Article 21

of the Constitution of India;

d) Issue a direction that the letter dated 20.07.2022

be cancelled as far as the requirement and demand for

an undertaking is concerned and a fresh letter be

issued;

e) Issue orders and direction that such demand for an

undertaking by the registry as a pre-condition to

processing

the

allotment

as

illegal,beyond

administrative duty and be struck down as arbitrary

and excessive as directly coercive and violative of the

right to work and professional practice of the

petitioner under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution

of India;

f)

Issue directions and/or clarification regarding the

impact of the outcome of Writ Petition No.94/2018 in

order to protect and pre-empt the damage that could be

caused by declaring the applicability of any outcome

prospectively and not retrospectively as protection for

the petitioner and the like regarding Rule 7B of the

Supreme Court Allotment Rules;

g) Pass any such further order/orders as this Hon’ble

Court may deem fit in the interest of justice.”

While making the allotment, the allottee has been asked for

furnish the following undertaking -

“UNDERTAKING

In respect of my application dated…….. for being

considered for allotment of Cabin/Chamber No…… Under

provisions of Rule 7B of the Supreme Court Lawyers’

Chambers (Allotment & Occupancy) rules (as amended

upto 20.11.2018) in place of ………..(since deceased), I

clearly understand that such allotment, if made, will

be purely provisional and temporary as it shall be

subject to the outcome in Writ Petition (Civil) No.94

of 2018 entitled “Vishnu Shankar Jain Vs. The Hon’ble

Supreme Court of India” wherein the vires of Rule-7B

afore-mentioned is under challenge.

I unconditionally undertake that if such right of

preferential allotment under Rule 7B of the Supreme

Court Lawyers’ Cham