Advocate’s letter to CJI: BCI chairman says attempt to create undue influence

NEW DELHI: Bar Council of India (BCI) Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra has written to Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud voicing concerns about a recent open letter from a senior lawyer to the CJI over the listing of sensitive cases pending before the Supreme Court and said this was an attempt to create “undue influence” and get “favourable” decisions.

On December 6, senior advocate Dushyant Dave wrote an open letter addressed to the CJI, expressing anguish over “certain happenings’ ‘ related to the listing of cases and their relocation to other benches of the apex court and sought immediate corrective measures.

Without naming Dave, the BCI chairman said attempts made through such letters clearly amount to contemptuous conduct and a mischief perpetrated to further ulterior motives and must be tackled with iron hands.

He alleged that the purpose behind such letters is to put pressure on the

judiciary for getting “favourable decisions for their influential clients and interests. Such letters have now become a regular feature almost to the point of staleness and must, therefore, be summarily rejected by Your Lordships”.

Mishra requested the CJI to stamp out the “nuisance” that these letters seek to create and set a lasting precedent against such attempts.

A day before Dave’s letter, Supreme Court judge

Sanjay Kishan Kaul had expressed surprise when some lawyers, including Prashant Bhushan, alleged a sudden deletion from court number two’s cause list pleas related to the Centre’s alleged delay in acting on the collegium’s recommendations on elevation and transfer of high court judges.

In his letter to the CJI, Dave, a former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president, had said he was deeply anguished at certain happenings related to the

listing of cases by the apex court registry.