-By Dhananjay Agrawal
On 12th march, Full court of Supreme court headed by chief justice of India, Sanjiv Khanna has issued a show cause notice to Senior Advocate Rishi Malhotra and asked him to explain why his Senior Advocate designation should not be revoked. this came after sharp practices adopted by Malhotra came in light. What is senior advocate designation? Advocates act,1961 classifies advocates into two types i.e, Senior advocate and other Advocates. The designation of senior advocate can be conferred upon an advocate, with their consent, either by the Supreme Court or a High Court, based on the advocate’s ability, standing at the Bar, or specialized knowledge in law. When did Malhotra designated as Senior Advocate and what exactly is the issue? Advocate Rishi Malhotra was designated as Senior Advocate by supreme court in the year 2024. The controversy started in September- October when the Supreme Court discovered that an appeal filed through Mr. Jaydip Pati, Advocate-on-Record omitted critical facts. The Bench objected that the special leave petition failed to disclose that the Court had previously reinstated a 30-year sentence without remission for a convict in a kidnapping case. These crucial details were concealed in the appeal seeking remission. After Mr. Jaydip Pati, Advocate-on-Record who was earlier junior of Malhotra has stated in his affidavit and told the top court that that he had signed off on appeal filed before the Court at Malhotra’s instance and was unaware that the appeal did not disclose certain crucial facts. He explained that he had signed the pleadings at the request of Senior Advocate Rishi Malhotra, whose good faith he did not question. He said that he never believed that Mr. Malhotra will take advantage of the same. Later in December 2024, Justice Oka-led bench had strongly criticized the conduct of Malhotra who allegedly failed to inform his client about the status of the case filing, in spite of receiving fees from the client. Can senior advocates designation be revoked? According to Guidelines for Designation of Senior Advocates by the Supreme Court of India, 2023, the Court can review the decision of designation of person as Senior Advocate designation can be revoked on grounds of guilt, misconduct which according to the Full Court disentitles him to designation. It is to be noted that court gives opportunity to Senior Advocate to be heard. While final decision rests with the Court.
Dhananjay Agrawal is a passionate 2nd law student at Faculty of Law
