The Supreme Court, on May 9, issued a notice in response to a plea challenging the senior advocate designations granted by the Allahabad High Court in 2019. The bench, comprising Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, observed that the High Court's Permanent Committee deviated from the principles set in the Indira Jaising v. Supreme Court case by reducing the total assessment marks from 100 to 75.
The plea was a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed against the September 2024 judgment of the Allahabad High Court. This judgment had dismissed Advocate Vishnu Bihari Tiwari's petition challenging the 2019 senior designations. Notably, the High Court had clarified that no new senior designations had been granted since 2019.
In 2019, the Allahabad High Court's Permanent Committee, led by the then Chief Justice, decided that advocates scoring 45 or more out of 75 points would be eligible for senior designation consideration. Out of 78 applicants, 75 were ultimately designated as senior advocates. The High Court justified this process, stating it was consistent with the guidelines in the Indira Jaising (2017) decision, which allows the creation of criteria for recommending suitable candidates to the Full Court.
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"The decision of the Permanent Committee to forward only selected applications to the Full Court was in accordance with Indira Jaising (2017)," the High Court stated in its judgment.
However, a critical point raised in the Supreme Court was the lack of mandatory interviews for shortlisted candidates. The High Court held that while conducting interviews was not mandatory, it was a discretionary choice. The suo motu powers of the High Court and Supreme Court to confer senior designation were also highlighted, as preserved in the Indira Jaising (2023) ruling.
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The Supreme Court also took note of a recent case involving the Delhi High Court's senior designation process in November 2024, where similar issues were identified. The Supreme Court directed the Delhi High Court to reconsider the rejected and deferred applications.
The Supreme Court has now reserved its judgment on whether the norms laid down in the Indira Jaising judgment require any modification.
Case : Vishnu Behari Tiwari vs. The High Court of Judicature at Allahabad | Diary No. 10144-2025
