Controversy surrounds the Delhi High Court’s senior advocate designation process as Permanent Committee member, Senior Advocate Sudhir Nandrajog, resigns. Notably, Nandrajog refrained from signing the final list sent to the full court for deliberation. His resignation has raised questions about transparency and fairness in the designation process.
New Delhi: The recent designation of 70 lawyers as Senior Advocates by the Delhi High Court sparked controversy after a member of the Permanent Committee resigned, claiming the final list was prepared without his approval.
The Permanent Committee consists of Chief Justice Manmohan, Justice Vibhu Bakhru, Justice Yashwant Varma, Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, and Senior Advocates Mohit Mathur and Sudhir Nandrajog.
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Sources indicate that Nandrajog, who represents the Delhi government, did not sign the final list circulated to the full court for deliberation, as he was occupied with an arbitration matter for two days. There are allegations that the final list was altered and does not reflect the original decisions made.
Nandrajog expressed,
“My only grievance is on the non-following of the procedure/rules. I have absolutely no comments on the list or any individual.”
On November 29, the Full Court of the Delhi High Court designated 70 lawyers as Senior Advocates, although the official notification has yet to be released. The Court had interviewed 302 lawyers as part of this process.
One judge remarked that Nandrajog was not excluded from the meetings and was involved in the discussions. Only the last meeting, held on November 28 (originally scheduled for December 2), took place without him due to his prior commitments.
The judge explained that the emergency meeting was convened because of the Supreme Court Collegium’s recommendation for Chief Justice Manmohan’s elevation to the Supreme Court.
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They noted that one Committee member contacted Nandrajog, who was unavailable due to his arbitration case.
The Permanent Committee aimed to maintain the evaluation process without rolling it back. The judge confirmed that the remaining five members of the Committee (excluding Nandrajog) signed the recommended list of lawyers, which was presented to the Full Court. The Full Court reviewed and ultimately decided to designate 70 out of the 71 lawyers recommended.
The official notification anticipated to be released either tonight or tomorrow morning.
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