BCI deprecates 'sustained attack' on SC by some senior lawyers, ex-judges

The Bar Council of India (BCI) Saturday deprecated the "sustained and synchronized attack" on the Supreme Court allegedly by "some senior advocates and former judges" and termed it as a conspiracy to "weaken and browbeat" the institution. The apex lawyer body has alleged that some people are using the media and social media to "castigate and scandalize" the judiciary by imputing baseless motives on the apex court judges.

"Never before in the history of the country has such a concerted attack by some disgruntled members of the bar and some unhappy and disappointed former judges been witnessed," BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra said in a press release. "They are in virtual competition with each other in hurling choicest of derogatory and indecent words to denigrate the Supreme Court. They know that Supreme Court judges are under compulsion to remain within the 'Lakshman Rekha' and are unable to come out to defend themselves," the press release said.

The BCI said it is the duty of the Bar to protect the institution and to ensure that no unscrupulous attack succeeds in weakening the judiciary. "The sustained and synchronized attack on Supreme Court by some senior advocates and former judges is a conspiracy to weaken and browbeat the institution," the BCI said, adding, "This is a very sad state of affairs." The BCI said it is painful to see that only a few days after two advocates made "unfair and unhealthy remarks" against the apex court, a former judge of the Supreme Court also "joined this bandwagon" fully knowing that such idle talk leads to undermining the authority of judiciary as a whole.

It alleged that the Supreme Court is currently seized of the issue of migrant workers, who are stranded across the country amid the coronavirus lockdown, and the kind of brazen attack these "purported intellectuals" are making is nothing but an attempt to influence the apex court to toe a particular line in this matter which would fulfil their agenda to defame the government. "Only two to three advocates are there, whose sole aim is to lay undue pressure upon the judges of Supreme Court by making such reckless remarks on almost every decision of the apex court. They want Supreme Court to run as per their dictates and according to their wishes," the release said.

"The indulgence of former judges is really very unfortunate. What the people have started to believe is that some former chief justices of high courts or some former judges of Supreme Court, who could not get a suitable berth after their superannuation, become disgruntled and start going in media and malign the system of which they were an integral part for quite a long period," the BCI claimed. It said the Bar will request such people that they should maintain the dignity and decorum of the institution.

Recently, a day before the Supreme Court had taken cognisance on its own on the "unfortunate and miserable" plight of migrant labourers, twenty prominent lawyers from Delhi and Mumbai had written a critical open letter to Chief Justice of India S A Bobde and other judges saying the apex court's "apparent indifference" to the humanitarian crisis and its "institutional deference" to statements of the executive would amount to abdication of its constitutional role if not rectified immediately. When the matter was heard by the apex court on May 28, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had complained to the court that there were “prophets of doom” in the country, who were spreading negativity and there were "armchair intellectuals" who were not recognizing the nation's effort in dealing with the migrant workers' crisis during the Covid-19 induced lockdown.

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