The Supreme Court on Tuesday (July 29, 2025) said that if a person is only playing the role of a lawyer, then the investigating agencies should not summon him to give legal advice to his client facing the investigation. However, if a lawyer is helping the client in the crime, he can be summoned.
According to PTI report, Chief Justice Bhushan Ramakrishna Gavai and Justice K.K. During the bench investigation of Vinod Chandran, he was hearing the automatic cognizance case related to giving legal advice or summoning lawyers representing the clients on behalf of the investigating agencies.
The bench said, ‘We had initially said that if someone (lawyer) is helping the client in a crime, it can be summoned … but not only to give legal advice.’ The bench heard the arguments of bar bodies like Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and Supreme Court Advocate-on Records Association (SCAORA) on this issue, which was represented by Senior Advocate Vikas Singh and advocate Vipin Nair.
Vikas Singh is also the President of SCBA. He expressed concern that arbitrary summons could have a wrong effect on the legal profession. He said, “If the lawyers are sent summons only to grant general legal advice to the clients, then no (lawyer) will be able to dare to give advice in sensitive criminal cases.”
Vikas Singh requested to implement security measures similar to the security measures adopted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case. He said that permission to summon a lawyer should be taken from the District Superintendent of Police (SP) and then it should be investigated by the Judicial Magistrate before releasing it.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, presented by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), agreed that the lawyers should not be summoned only to give legal advice. He emphasized that the privilege of communication should be respected between the lawyer and the client.
Tushar Mehta warned against implementing such measures, which can cause inequality. He said, “It can be a violation of Article-14, not just for the permission of the magistrate to summon the lawyers.”
The bench directed that written suggestions submitted by SCBA and SCAORA should be sent to Solicitor General and Attorney General within three days. The date of August 12 has been fixed for the next hearing of the case, when the Center will present its side.