“Summoning Defence Lawyers Threatens Legal Autonomy”: SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday observed that the legal profession is a vital part of the process of administration of justice and took suo motu cognisance of the larger issue after a plea by a lawyer who was summoned by police in Gujarat in relation to a case of his client.

The Bench of Justice KV Viswanathan and Justice N Kotiswar Singh noted that allowing investigative agencies or police to directly summon defence counsels or lawyers, who had advised parties in a case, would seriously undermine the autonomy of the legal profession.

The bench sought assistance from the Attorney General of India, Solicitor General of India, Chairman of the Bar Council of India, and Presidents of the Supreme Court Bar Association and the Supreme Court Advocate-on-Record Association in addressing this ‘important’ issue.

A Gujarat lawyer who secured bail for his client in a loan dispute case was summoned under Section 179 BNSS by the SC/ST Cell, Ahmedabad.

SC stayed the Gujarat High Court order that upheld the police summons and protected the lawyer from any further coercive notices.

The development comes days after the Enforcement Directorate issued notice that any summons to advocates must now receive prior approval from its Director.

The ED issued this circular after the ED had summoned Senior Advocates Arvind Datar and Pratap Venugopal, but later withdrew the summons following strong objections from Bar associations.

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