Sakina Tashrifwala
Published on: September 6, 2022 at 22:48 IST
The SC postponed the plea that requested the Ministry of Urban Development to convert the entire land measuring 1.33 acres situated near the ITO on the ring road behind the petroleum to be transformed into chambers for lawyers.
The plea has been moved to next Monday.
The advocate representing SCBA (Supreme Court Bar Association) informed the Bench of Chief Justice of India UU Lalit and Justice Ravindra Bhat that the president of SCBA, Senior Advocate Vikas Singh, wanted to represent the matter himself.
However, the Court remarked that it is not permitted by the Bar Council. As stated by the petition, the number of lawyers are increasing abundantly for practise in the Supreme Court.
This has further led to a jump in the requirement for Chambers blocks and the Petitioner Association has a duty to provide for these requirements speedily to ensure the lawyers are eligible for allotment.
The Plea further reads that the entire 1.33 acres be utilized for constructing chamber blocks for lawyers instead of the 0.5 acres allotted to them.
It also wants to transform the entire area around the Supreme Court into a Supreme Court Complex in consultation with the Ministry of Urban Development so that all the buildings across the Supreme Court on Bhagwan Das Road, including the Foreign Correspondence Club, Indian Law Institute (ILI), Indian Society of International Law (ISIL), etc., be utilized either for conversion into chambers or for re-development as chamber block/use for the activities related to the Supreme Court.
The Petitioner Association is a crucial and coherent part of the administration of the Judiciary, and the chambers will smooth this process.
The non-allotment of these chambers would violate the fundamental rights of the members as enshrined under Article 14, Article 19(1)(g) and Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
