From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: In a stingy letter to Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Supreme Court Bar Association President and senior advocate Vikas Singh has protested at the listing of matters concerning life and livelihood of its members, being treated like ordinary petitioners and not given the kind of priority they should get.
“With the kind of partiality being done to us, hope that such a situation does not arise that we have to resort to protest for our demand,” he warned. He pointed out that there is a practice in the apex court that on a given day the listed cases are heard and the general cases are not heard on that day by giving priority to the listed cases.
In his letter, Vikas Singh writes that his chamber plays a very important role in a lawyer’s life. During the tenure of former Chief Justice (CJI) NV Ramana itself, 40 percent site plan of the Chambers was prepared on the earmarked land. He himself wanted to lay the foundation stone of the Chamber Block. This is the last vacant land closest to the apex court. The Bar Council had filed the writ petition so that chambers could be constructed on the entire 1.33 acres of land. The delay in this matter is affecting the livelihood of lawyers and members of the Supreme Court Bar Association.
The letter says November 3, 2022 was fixed to build the lawyers’ chambers. The next date of the matter was January 9, 2023, but on that day the Bench got up at 4.30 PM and the matter could not be heard. The matter was mentioned on January 10, but no date was given for hearing.
Vikas Singh said he raised the matter before the CJI on January 10, but what he got from the CJI was a scathing comment and that rules we make in our court will be the practice, and no one should try to dictate us
