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Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan decides to quit practising and informs his decision via a two-paragraph letter addressed to The Chief Justice of India Justice Dipak Misra. The senior lawyer cited the “humiliation” he suffered in the Chief Justice’s courtroom on the last day of hearing in the Centre-Delhi government power spat hearing.
Probably in the history of Supreme Court of India, this is the first time a senior lawyer quits practising claiming that he was humiliated in the court room.
Mr. Dhavan believed that Justice Misra was “entitled” to relieve him of his ‘senior advocate’ designation, however he would not mind retaining it as a souvenir of his days in court.
On December 6, Mr. Dhavan, with many other lawyers appeared for the Delhi government before a five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice Misra. Advocate Dhavan had refused the Chief Justice’s suggestion to submit his rejoinder statements in writing. He had pressed on with his oral arguments.
This was after senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, who was also appearing on behalf of the Delhi government, completed his rejoinder and the court agreed to reserve the case for judgment. The half-hour long submissions saw the Bench repeatedly contradict statements Mr. Dhavan imputed to the Chief Justice. Justice Ashok Bhushan, on the Bench, observed that the conduct by Mr. Dhavan was “unfortunate”.
The previous day, on December 5, Mr. Dhavan with two other senior lawyers almost walked out of the courtroom in the Ayodhya title dispute hearing. The walk out was in protesting that the court had denied their plea for a fair hearing.
It is believed that these two events resulted in the Chief Justice lashing out in open court against the conduct of senior advocates. Specially because, the CJI had referred to the Delhi and Ayodhya hearings and said the conduct of certain senior counsel was “atrocious” and they did not deserve the senior gown.
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