'Undermines Autonomy Of Legal Profession': SC On Cops Summoning Lawyers Over Client Advice

Last Updated:June 25, 2025, 21:57 IST

The SC said allowing police or probe agencies to directly summon lawyers for advising clients was a "direct threat" to the independence of justice administration

The SC order came as it was hearing a plea of a Gujarat-based lawyer, challenging an HC order passed on June 12. (Image: PTI/File)

The Supreme Court on Wednesday raised concerns over the probe agencies and police being allowed to summon lawyers for advising clients. It said this can have a “chilling effect" and would seriously undermine the autonomy of the legal profession.

Observing this was a “direct threat" to the independence of justice administration, a bench of Justices KV Viswanathan and N Kotiswar Singh explained how the legal profession was an integral component of the process of administration of justice.

“Permitting the investigating agencies/police to directly summon defense counsel or advocates who advise parties in a given case would seriously undermine the autonomy of legal profession and would even constitute a direct threat to the independence of the administration of justice," the bench said.

The order came when the court was hearing a plea of a Gujarat-based advocate, challenging an order of the high court passed on June 12.

The bench framed a couple of questions in the matter and said it directly impinged on the administration of justice “to subject a professional… when he is a counsel in the matter… prima facie appears to be untenable, subject to further consideration by the court".

“Some of the questions which arise for consideration are: (1) when an individual has a association with a case only as a lawyer advising the party, could the investigating agency/prosecuting agency/police directly summon the lawyer for questioning?" the bench asked. “Assuming that the investigating agency or prosecuting agency or police have a case that role of the individual is not merely as a lawyer but something more, even then, should they be directly permitted to summon or should a judicial oversight be prescribed for those exceptional criteria?"

The bench further said “what is at stake is the efficacy of the administration of justice and the capacity of the lawyers to conscientiously, and more importantly, fearlessly discharge their professional duties".

WHAT IS THE SC ORDER?

The SC was hearing a plea of a Gujarat-based advocate, challenging an order of the high court passed on June 12.

The high court had refused to quash a notice summoning the lawyer before the police in a case against his client. The top court, however, directed the state not to summon him till further orders and stayed the operation of the police’s notice issued to him.

The bench also issued notice to the Gujarat government, asking for its response. It noted an agreement was executed in June last year between two persons in a loan transaction. In February, one of them got an FIR registered against the other following which the accused was arrested.

The court noted the petitioner before it was engaged as a lawyer by the accused and he moved a bail application on behalf of his client before a sessions court in Ahmedabad. The accused was granted bail. But, a police notice in March summoned the lawyer to appear before police within three days.

WHY IS THIS SIGNIFICANT?

The issue assumes significance as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on June 20 directed its investigating officers not to issue summons to any advocate in a money laundering investigation being carried out against their client, adding that exception to this rule could only be made after “approval" by the agency’s director.

The ED’s statement came in the wake of the lawyer-client privilege linked controversy stemming from its summons to senior SC lawyers Arvind Datar and Pratap Venugopal. The counsel had offered legal advice to Care Health Insurance Limited (CHIL) on the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) given to Rashmi Saluja, former chairperson of Religare Enterprises.

The summons were condemned by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA), calling it a “disturbing trend" that struck at the very foundations of the legal profession.

The bar bodies urged the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to take suo motu cognisance of the matter.

(With PTI inputs)

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