Under Section 16 of the Advocates Act 1961 two classes of advocates are classified; Senior Advocate and Junior or those who are not designated as seniors. The Senior advocates play the role of legal experts in India who have significant knowledge in the field of law. They are associated with many prominent cases as they are good contributors to the principle of the Rule of Law.

How to become a Senior Counsel?

• Section 16(2) of the Advocates Act, 1961 and Rule 2(a) of Order IV of the Supreme Court Rules, 1966 provide certain guidelines to be followed for the designation of a senior counsel.
• As per these provisions:
  • The Chief Justice and other judges of the concerned court should believe that a particular advocate is fit to hold the position of a senior advocate.
  • The concerned advocate should have exceptional legal expertise and knowledge of the law.
  • The consent of such an advocate should be obtained prior.
  • The selection should be on the sole ground of his knowledge and expertise in the area of law.

What are the restrictions imposed on a Senior Advocate?

• A senior advocate is not permitted to appear without an Advocate-on-record or any junior.
• He/she is refrained from drafting pleadings or affidavits before any court or authority mentioned under Section 30 of the act.
• He/she shall not accept directly from a client any brief or instructions to appear in any Court.
• A senior cannot file any pleading or represent his client neither can draft an application in his own handwriting.
• The senior advocate must maintain a code of conduct, different from the other advocates.

• India’s first woman Senior Advocate Indira Jaising filed a petition in SC challenging the existing process of designation.
• She termed this process as opaque, arbitrary and fraught with nepotism and sought greater transparency in the process of designating.
• As a result, the Apex Court decided to lay down guidelines for itself and all High Courts on the process of designating senior advocates.

• The judgment decided the setup:
  • A permanent committee, and 
  • a permanent secretariat,
    • The secretariat was tasked with receiving and compiling all applications for designation with relevant data, information, and the number of reported and unreported judgments. Besides creating permanent bodies, the verdict laid down the procedures and assessment criteria for the designation process.

Indira Jaising v Supreme Court of India, 2023 SCC OnLine SC 614, decided on 12-05-2023

In an application filed by Senior Advocate Indira Jaising against the existing system of designation of Senior Advocates, terming it flawed as it was not objective, fair, and transparent, and thus did not take into account considerations of merit and ability, the 3-Judge Bench of Sanjay Kishan Kaul*, Ahsanuddin Amanullah, and Aravind Kumar, JJ. has fine-tuned the guidelines laid down in the 2017 Judgment to bring in greater transparency and objectivity in the designation process. The Supreme Court has published new guidelines for the designation of senior advocates practising mainly in the Apex Court. These guidelines come after the May 12 ruling delivered by a three-judge bench led by Justice SK Kaul in a case seeking modification in the conferment of ‘senior advocate’ designation guidelines rendered in a 2017 SC ruling.

New guidelines for the designation of senior advocates in the SC

What do the new guidelines say?

• Minimum age to apply for the senior advocate designation
  • The new guidelines prescribe the minimum age as 45 years to apply for the ‘senior advocate’ designation. 
  • This age limit may, however, be relaxed by the Committee, the Chief Justice of India, or a Supreme Court judge if they have recommended an advocate’s name.
    • The 2017 guidelines say that the CJI along with any judge can recommend an advocate’s name for designation.
    • However, the 2023 guidelines specify that the CJI along with any Judge of the Supreme Court may recommend in writing the name of an advocate for designation.
• Marks set aside for publications
  • Earlier, the guidelines stated that 15 marks were set aside for publications. 
  • However, the new guidelines state that only 5 marks will be given for:
    • publication of academic articles, experience of teaching assignments in the field of law, and 
    • guest lectures delivered in law schools and professional institutions connected with law.
• Weightage given to reported and unreported judgements
  • The weightage given to reported and unreported judgements (excluding orders that do not lay down any principle of law) has increased from 40 to 50 points in the new guidelines.

Why are the guidelines being changed after the Indira Jaising Case?

In February 2023, the Central government sought to change guidelines for the designation of senior lawyers.

• These guidelines were issued by the Supreme Court in the aftermath of its 2017 ruling in the case of ‘Indira Jaising vs. Union of India’.

• The designation guidelines for lawyers are based on a point-based system, which awarded 40% weightage to publications, personality, and suitability gauged through the interview. 
• The Centre argued that this system is subjective, ineffective, and dilutes the esteem and dignity of the honour being conferred traditionally.
• It pointed to the rampant circulation of bogus and sham journals where people can publish their articles without any academic evaluation of the contents and quality of the articles.
• The Centre also sought to reinstate the rule of a simple majority by a secret ballot, where the judges can express their views about the suitability of any candidate without any embarrassment.
  • The existing guidelines discouraged the system of voting by secret ballot, except in cases where it was unavoidable.