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Synopsis

Supreme Court Bar Association President Adish C Aggarwala on Thursday expressed concern over the growing tendency of writing letters to sitting Chief Justices of India to exert undue pressure on the administration of justice.

Taking an exception to a letter by senior advocate Dushyant Dave alleging shifting of sensitive cases from first Coram to second Coram judge, he said that the move is aimed at attracting publicity and creating an element of uneasiness among the judges, and to attract some select clientele whose brief lacks anything on merit. 

He voiced "utter shock" over the open letter, and alleged that "malicious, motivated and dubious attempts" are being made the behest of some influential litigants. 

Claiming the entire Bar, except a few individuals, are fully satisfied with the leadership of the CJI, both on the judicial side as well as on the administrative side, Aggarwala said, "If the CJI succumbs to such pressure tactics, it would sound a death knell to the independence of this great institution at the hands of certain vested interests".

He claimed that these attempts are nothing but "self-serving attacks on the independence of the judiciary". 

"Owing to this misbehaviour by some senior counsel, the Bar suffers disgrace and the harmony between the Bar and the Bench gets disturbed. The ill behaving lawyers still stand to benefit because they attract clients who want to put pressure on the courts to decide cases in a certain manner," he said.

Aggarwala said that similar attempts were made in the past in year 2019, and twice in 2020.

"The Administration cannot waste its precious time entertaining every letter making wild and imaginary accusations. The assignment of cases is not open to question on the judicial or the administrative side," he said.

He said that the time has come when one should put an end to the practice. 

"This will subserve the interest of the Bar and will strengthen the administration of justice. It is essential to curb every attempt to scandalise the court mechanisms with insinuations and falsehood, aimed at mischievously shaking the confidence of the public in our courts," Aggarwala said.

In his letter on December 6, Dave said matters listed before Court No. 2, 4, 6, 7 amongst others have been shifted out and listed before other Benches in clear disregard of the Rules, the Handbook on Practice and Office Procedure referred above and established Practice and Convention. "Curiously, the Seniority of the first coram is also being ignored in doing so," he said.