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A Supreme Court bench of Justices UU Lalit, Ravindra Bhat and Narasimha today issued notice in a plea challenging senior designations made by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in May 2021.

According to the plea, the guidelines laid down by the court in Indira Jaisingh vs Supreme Court of India were not followed in the designation process.

It has been stated that the High Court designated granted the designation to 19 seniors in violation of the judgment and the Rules for designation of Senior Advocate framed by the High Court.

It has also been pointed out that 112 lawyers had applied for the designation in 2019, however, suddenly in 2021 the lawyers were sent an email to be physically present for an interaction with the Committee.

It has been alleged that the Committee failed to publish a list that it has put together filtering a certain number of candidates out of the 112 applicants. Of the 112 applicants, the Committee shortlisted 27 names for the designation and the full court finally approved 19 names for the same.

According to media reports, the plea also claimed that one of the lawyers who was designated is the wife of a former judge who is currently the president of the State Consumer Commission.

Sr. Adv. Vikas Singh, appearing for the petitioners, asked the Court to call for the records pertaining to senior designations from the High Court and sought for a rejig of the process in compliance with the judgment of the Court.

The Court has issued notice to Punjab and Haryana High Court and summoned for the records pertaining to senior designations.

Cause Title: Amar Vivek Agarwal vs High Court of Punjab & Haryana