Read Time: 04 minutes

A Supreme Court bench of Justices UU Lalit, Ravindra Bhat and Narasimha on Wednesday clarified that one mark should be awarded for each year of practice from 11th to 20th year of practice while considering the names of advocates for senior designations.

The bench held the above in an application moved by Senior Counsel Indira Jaising in the matter pertaining to senior designations. Jaising argued that many High Courts follow the practice of granting 10 marks for 10-20 years. She informed the court that many lawyers have told her that everyone with an experience between 10 to 19 years gets the same mark.

Jaising submitted before the court that for 10 years of experience 10 marks may be awarded and one mark may be awarded for every additional year of the service.

The above is one of the prayers of Jaising’s application. The Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta appeared before the bench and asked for time to file reply to Jaising’s application.

The SG, however, informed the court that conferring senior designations is an honour bestowed by the courts to lawyers and it cannot be subject to personal interviews. The SG submitted that the full court should have the final say in this regard.

It is to be noted that Jaising had earlier filed a plea in the Supreme Court asking the court to frame guidelines and make the process of senior designations more transparent. As a result of Jaising’s plea, the Supreme Court passed a judgment framing several guidelines and rules and the rules were made applicable to all High Courts.

The bench, on hearing the submissions of the parties, passed the order clarifying that one mark should be awarded for each year of practice from 10-20 years while considering the names of advocates for senior designations. The court also indicated that it will consider the rest of the prayers on May 12, 2022.

Case title: Indira Jaising Vs Supreme Court of India