Plea challenging designation of lawyers as senior advocates dismissed by Supreme Court
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition challenging the designation of lawyers as senior advocates, saying the mechanism to grant the designation was not arbitrary.
A bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, while delivering its verdict on a plea filed by advocate Mathews J Nedumpara and seven others, said the writ petition was a "misadventure", largely of Nedumpara, "in continuation of some of his past misadventures".
"If one may say the indulgence to the junior members of the bar, in a sense, is more than a senior member because it is also a part of the duty of the bench to help in the evolution of the bar," Justice Kaul said while pronouncing the judgement.
"We have thus not the slightest hesitation in coming to the conclusion that the writ petition is a misadventure, largely of petitioner number one (Nedumpara), in continuation of some of his past misadventures," the bench said, while dismissing the plea.
The apex court said it appeared that judgements and orders passed earlier by the court do not seem to have any salutary effect on petitioner number one for self-introspection.
The petitioners had challenged sections 16 and 23 (5) of the Advocates Act, 1961, claiming these "creates two classes of lawyers, senior advocates and other advocates, which in actual practice has resulted in unthinkable catastrophe and inequities which Parliament certainly would not have contemplated or foreseen".
While section 16 of the Advocates Act pertains to senior and other advocates, section 23 (5) says senior advocates shall have pre-audience over other lawyers and their right of pre-audience inter se shall be determined by their respective seniority.
The plea had claimed that designation of lawyers as senior advocates, which is "creating a special class of advocates with special rights, privileges and status not available to ordinary advocates, is unconstitutional, being violative of the mandate of equality under Article 14 ".
Earlier in March 2019, the apex court had sentenced Nedumpara to three months in jail for contempt of court and attempting to "browbeat" judges but suspended the sentence after taking note of the unconditional apology tendered by him.
The top court had barred the advocate from practising before it for a year.
While hearing the plea against the senior advocate designation, the bench had in March this year referred to its 2017 verdict that had laid down guidelines for itself and high courts to govern the exercise of designating lawyers as senior advocates.
The verdict, which had come out with a slew of guidelines, said, "All matters relating to designation of senior advocates in the Supreme Court and all the high courts of the country shall be dealt with by a permanent committee to be known as 'Committee for Designation of Senior Advocates'."
The panel will be headed by the Chief Justice and consist of the two senior-most judges of the apex court or high court(s), as may be, and the Attorney General or the Advocate General of a state in case of a high court, it had said.
On giving the Bar a representation, it had said, "The four members of the permanent committee will nominate another member of the Bar to be the fifth member of the permanent committee."
The apex court had delivered another judgment in May on applications seeking certain modifications in the guidelines.
It had said the process of designating 'senior advocate', which has always been held as an "honour conferred", should be carried out at least once a year.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
