New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said allowing police or probe agencies to directly summon lawyers for advising clients would seriously undermine the autonomy of the legal profession and was a “direct threat” to the independence of justice administration.
A bench of Justices KV Viswanathan and N Kotiswar Singh observed the legal profession was an integral component of the process of administration of justice.
“Permitting the investigating agencies/police to directly summon defense 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,” the apex court said.
The bench also framed a couple of questions in the matter.
“Some of the questions which arise for consideration are: (1) when an individual has an association with a case only as a lawyer advising the party, could the investigating agency/prosecuting agency/police directly summon the lawyer for questioning?” the bench asked.
The other question read: “Assuming that the investigating agency or prosecuting agency or police have a case that the role of the individual is not merely as a lawyer but something more, even then, should they be directly permitted to summon or should a judicial oversight be prescribed for those exceptional criteria?”
Both points aside from other issues, the bench said, could arise and require addressal on a comprehensive basis for “what is at stake is the efficacy of the administration of justice and the capacity of the lawyers to conscientiously, and more importantly, fearlessly discharge their professional duties”.
The bench said since it was a matter directly impinging on the administration of justice, “to subject a professional... when he is a counsel in the matter... prima facie appears to be untenable, subject to further consideration by the court”.
The order came when the top court was hearing a plea of a Gujarat-based advocate, challenging an order of the high court passed on June 12.
The high court in March 2025 refused to quash a notice summoning the lawyer before the police in a case
against his client.
The bench also issued notice to Gujarat government, asking for its response.