The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the investigating agencies cannot be allowed to directly summon the lawyers in relation to the cases of their clients as that would be a direct threat to the administration of justice.
The Bench of Justice KV Viswanathan and Justice N Kotiswar Singh took suo motu cognizance of the issue while dealing with the plea by a lawyer who was summoned by police in Gujarat in relation to a case of his client."Permitting the investigation agencies/police to directly summon defence counsels or lawyers who advised parties in a given case would seriously undermine the autonomy of the legal profession and would even constitute a direct threat to the independence of the administration of justice," the Court said.
Such an action prima facie is untenable, it added.
The Court said it would require the assistance of the Attorney General for India, the Solicitor General of India, the Bar Council of India (BCI) Chairman and Presidents of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) on the issue.The bench also framed a couple of questions in the matter.
"Some of the questions which arise for consideration are: (1) when an individual has a association with a case only as a lawyer advising the party, could the investigating agency/prosecuting agency/police directly summon the lawyer for questioning?" the bench asked.
The other question read, "Assuming that the investigating agency or prosecuting agency or police have a case that role of the individual is not merely as a lawyer but something more, even then, should they be directly permitted to summon or should a judicial oversight be prescribed for those exceptional criteria?"
"Both points aside from other issues, the bench said, could arise and require addressal on a comprehensive basis for "what is at stake is the efficacy of the administration of justice and the capacity of the lawyers to conscientiously, and more importantly, fearlessly discharge their professional duties".
The bench said since it was a matter directly impinging on the administration of justice, "to subject a professional... when he is a counsel in the matter... prima facie appears to be untenable, subject to further consideration by the court".
The order came when the top court was hearing a plea of a Gujarat-based advocate, challenging an order of the high court passed on June 12.
The issue assumes significance as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on June 20 directed its investigating officers not to issue summons to any advocate in a money laundering investigation being carried out against their client, adding that exception to this rule could only be made after "approval" by the agency's director.The probe agency's statement came in the wake of the lawyer-client privilege linked controversy stemming from ED's summons to senior Supreme Court lawyers Arvind Datar and Pratap Venugopal.
The bar bodies urged the chief justice of India to take suo motu cognisance of the matter.
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