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Supreme Court Bar Association v. State of Uttar Pradesh

Criminal Appeal · 2025 INSC 364Decided 19 Mar 2025
M.A. No. 3-4 of 2025 in Criminal Appeal No. 3883-3884 of 2024
Justice Bela M. Trivedi · Justice Satish Chandra Sharma

Background

In an earlier 2024 judgment, the Supreme Court had directed that only Advocates-on-Record (AORs) authorised to argue a case should have their appearances marked in the Court's official Record of Proceedings, after noticing that appearances of numerous unauthorised advocates were routinely being recorded. The Supreme Court Bar Association and the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association applied to intervene and modify that direction, arguing it would hurt junior advocates' career progression and members' voting rights, chamber allotment eligibility, and Senior Advocate designation prospects.

Decision Breakdown

The Court held that the Supreme Court Rules, 2013 (framed under Article 145 of the Constitution) have statutory force and must be strictly followed: no informal "practice" of marking every present advocate's appearance can override them. It clarified that only the Senior Advocate/AOR/Advocate actually present and arguing, plus one assisting Advocate/AOR, may have their appearance recorded, per the existing Form No. 30 rules. The Court also reiterated that the CBI's investigation (a subject of the original 2024 judgment) should proceed independently of the Court's earlier observations, and confirmed that voting rights, chamber allotment, and Senior Advocate designation are governed by separate statutory rules unaffected by this order.

Lesson Learnt

Court record-keeping and professional privileges for lawyers in India are governed by formal statutory rules, not informal custom: an advocate's right to practice does not automatically translate into an entitlement to have every appearance officially logged.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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