Can't summon lawyers for legal advice, says SC

Direct summons by investigating agencies or the police to lawyers for advising their clients can "shatter the core of legal independence" and constitute a "serious interference with the administration of justice", the Supreme Court said on Wednesday, as it initiated suo motu proceedings to address the issue and formulate safeguards to protect the legal profession.

- Utkarsh Anand

NEW DELHI:

"The legal profession is an integral component of the process of administration of justice. Counsels who are engaged in their legal practice have certain rights and privileges guaranteed because of the fact that they are legal professionals, and also due to statutory provisions. Permitting investigating agencies or police to directly summon defence counsel or advocates who advise parties in a given case would seriously undermine the autonomy of the legal profession and would even constitute a direct threat to the independence of the administration of justice," said a bench of Justices K.V. Viswanathan and N. Kotiswar Singh.