Supreme Court: A three-Judge Bench of Abhay S Oka, Ujjal Bhuyan, and SVN Bhatti, JJ. issued fresh guidelines for Senior Advocate designations and directed that the point-based assessment by the Permanent Committee, evolved in Indira Jaising v. Supreme Court of India, (2017) 9 SCC 766 and Indira Jaising v. Supreme Court of India, (2023) 8 SCC 1 be departed with.
In the 2023 judgment, the point-based assessment system was revisited and amended as follows:
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Number of years of practice of the applicant-Advocate from the date of enrolment. (10 points for 10 years of practice and 1 point each for every additional year of practice, subject to a maximum of 20 points).
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Judgments reported and unreported (excluding orders that do not lay down any principle of law); Pro bono work done by the Advocate; domain expertise of the applicant-Advocate, subject to a maximum of 50 points.
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Publication of academic articles, experience of teaching assignments in the field of law, guest lectures delivered in law schools and professional institutions connected with law, subject to a maximum of 5 points.
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The test of personality and suitability on the basis of interviews for a holistic assessment of the applicant, subject to 25 points.
[Kalla v. State (Govt.) NCT of Delhi, Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No. 4299/2024, Decided on: 13-05-2025]
Source: Press
