The Supreme Court has said that inquiries for their legal functioning of lawyers will harm the judicial system. While prohibiting the summons sent by the police to a Gujarat lawyer, the court automatically took cognizance of the comprehensive question related to it. In the case, Attorney General, Solicitor General, Supreme Court Bar Association and Supreme Court Advocates on Record Association have been asked to assist the court.
Justice KV Vishwanathan and Justice N. Kotishwar Singh have said that the matter has been put in front of the Chief Justice so that he can form the appropriate bench. The judges said that the conversation between the lawyer and the client falls in the specific category. If the lawyer is allowed to go under the purview of police action to provide legal advice or assistance to his client, then it will directly affect fair justice. The autonomy of lawyers is an important part of the judicial system.
The judges said that 2 important questions in the case require consideration:-
1. Can police or another investigative agency send summons for inquiries to a person advising his client as a lawyer in a trial? If the investigating agency feels that the role of a lawyer in the case is not limited to legal aid, should he be sent summons without the permission of the court?
In the case on which the Supreme Court has taken cognizance, a lawyer was called by the Ahmedabad Police for questioning in the case related to Section 179 (using fake coins, stamps or notes instead of real). The lawyer provided bail to a person in the case related to the bank loan. After this, the police sent him summons.
Gujarat High Court refused to stop summons. Now the Supreme Court has stopped it. It should be noted that there was a lot of controversy on the summons sent by the ED to senior lawyers of the Supreme Court Arvind Datar and Pratap Venugopal. Later the agency itself withdrew them.