Supreme Court Initiates Suo Motu Case Over Investigative Agencies Summoning Advocates For Legal Advice To Accused
Recent summons issued by the ED to two senior lawyers had led to widespread condemnation by the bar bodies.;
The Supreme Court has initiated a suo motu case on the issue of investigative agencies summoning advocates over their legal opinion given to clients.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice NV Anjaria will hear the case titled "In Re : Summoning Advocates Who Give Legal Opinion or Represent Parties During Investigation of Cases and Related Issues" on July 14.
On June 25, a bench comprising Justice KV Viswanathan and Justice NK Singh had expressed concerns over the trend of police and investigative agencies summoning advocates, and had referred the matter to the Chief Justice of India. This development happened in a case where the Gujarat Police summoned an advocate who represented an accused. Staying the notice issued to the lawyer, the bench observed that summoning advocates will undermine the independence of the legal profession and consequently impact the fair administration of justice. Following the intervention by Justice Viswanathan's bench, the suo motu case was registered on July 4.
Recently, the action of the Enforcement Directorate in issuing summons to two Senior Advocates- Arvind Datar and Pratap Venugopal- in respect of the legal advice given by them had led to widespread outrage. Following the protests by the bar associations, the ED withdrew the summons issued to the lawyers and issued a circular that summons to lawyers cannot be issued without the prior permission of the ED Director.
Case : In Re : Summoning Advocates Who Give Legal Opinion or Represent Parties During Investigation of Cases and Related Issues | SMW(Cal) 2/2025