Supreme Court Dismisses Contempt Plea Filed Against Delhi High Court Over Senior Designations Process
The Supreme Court on Tuesday (December 9) dismissed a contempt petition filed against the Delhi High Court alleging a delay in reconsidering the applications for the designation as 'Senior Advocates', which were deferred or rejected in November last year.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi dismissed the petition, observing that the High Court's committee will do the needful.
"We do not expect members of the bar to generate litigation. Don't file these kinds of petitions. Chief Justice committee is aware of it," CJI Kant told the petitioner.
The petition claims non-compliance of the Supreme Court's April 15 order, passed by a bench comprising Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan which directed the Delhi High Court to consider afresh the applications for senior designations, which were deferred or rejected in November last year, in accordance with the existing rules (The High Court of Delhi Designations of Senior Advocates Rules 2024).
The order was passed while hearing writ petitions challenging the Delhi High Court's notification issued on November 29, 2024, designating 70 advocates as Senior Advocates and placing the remaining 67 on a “Deferred List” for future consideration on grounds of alleged irregularities.
The contempt petition is filed by Advocate Sanjay Dubey(who was one of the applicants who was denied the senior designation) in a writ petition filed by him, which was disposed of in light of the Supreme Court's directions in Raman alias Raman Gandhi vs. Registrar General, High Court of Delhi & Anr in which the April 15 order was passed.
Case Details: SANJAY DUBEY v. THE FULL REFERENCE OF THE HON'BLE JUDGES OF THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI | Diary No. 60527/2025