The Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) Today (June 20) asked Chief Justice BR Gavai to take suo motu action over ED’s summons to Senior Advocate Pratap Venugopal. SCAORA believes the move threatens legal independence and lawyer-client confidentiality.
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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) has written a letter to Chief Justice of India, Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai, asking him to take suo motu cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons issued to Senior Advocate Mr. Pratap Venugopal.
This letter, dated June 20, 2025, was sent by SCAORA President Mr. Vipin Nair, and it calls the ED’s action-
“A deeply disquieting development, which has serious ramifications for the independence of the legal profession and the foundational principle of lawyer-client confidentiality.”
According to SCAORA, Senior Advocate Mr. Pratap Venugopal received an official summons from the ED on June 19, 2025, regarding a matter from June 18, 2025. The summons was issued under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
This is related to an ongoing investigation by ED into an Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) granted by M/s Care Health Insurance Ltd.
The core issue is that Mr. Pratap Venugopal had acted as the Advocate-on-Record, who filed a legal opinion authored by Senior Advocate Mr. Arvind Datar. This legal opinion supported the grant of stock options to former Religare Enterprises Chairperson Mrs. Rashmi Saluja.
The summons pertains to an investigation involving the Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) granted by Care Health Insurance to former Religare Enterprises Chairperson Rashmi Saluja. Venugopal was the Advocate-on-Record for a legal opinion authored by Senior Advocate Arvind Datar, which supported the grant of stock options.
The ED had earlier issued a similar notice to Datar, but it was later withdrawn.
SCAORA emphasised that Venugopal is “a widely respected member of the legal fraternity,” whose professional record and sincerity led to his designation as a Senior Advocate earlier this year.
“These actions, by the ED, we believe, amount to an impermissible transgression of the sacrosanct lawyer-client privilege,”
-the letter continues, warning that such coercive measures could have a chilling effect on the legal community.
Calling on the Supreme Court to act decisively, the Association urged the Court to:
- Examine the legality and propriety of such summonses to legal professionals.
- Safeguard the constitutional and professional protections afforded to advocates.
- Lay down guidelines to prevent further erosion of lawyer-client privilege.
“The role of an advocate, in offering legal advice, is both privileged and protected. Interference by investigative agencies…strikes at the heart of the rule of law.”
The letter concludes with an appeal to the Supreme Court to uphold the independence of the Bar and prevent any misuse of executive power that could undermine the dignity of the legal profession.
SCAORA strongly objects to the ED’s action. It wrote to the Chief Justice:
“SUO MOTU COGNISANCE OF THE SUMMONS ISSUED TO SENIOR ADVOCATE MR. PRATAP VENUGOPAL BY THE ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE FOR LEGAL OPINION RENDERED TO A CLIENT.”
In the letter, Mr. Vipin Nair mentioned:
“I write to you in my capacity as the President of the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) to bring to your kind attention a deeply disquieting development, which has serious ramifications for the independence of the legal profession and the foundational principle of lawyer-client confidentiality.”
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He continued:
“It has come to our notice that Mr. Pratap Venugopal, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court has received on 19.6.2025, a summons dated 18.6.25 by the Enforcement Directorate (‘ED’) under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 in its investigation into the Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) granted by M/s Care Health Insurance Ltd. for a purported Legal Opinion rendered by Mr. Arvind Datar, Senior Advocate, wherein Mr. Pratap Venugopal, was the Advocate-on-Record, supporting the grant of Stock Options to Former Religare Enterprises Chairperson, Mrs. Rashmi Saluja.”
Legal experts and members of the bar have also expressed concern that such summons to an Advocate-on-Record or any senior counsel for legal advice given to a client could discourage lawyers from taking up sensitive or controversial matters.
Soon after, ED’s Assistant Director (Mumbai) withdrew with immediate effect the subject summons, as per which Venugopal was directed to appear before the agency on June 24.
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