The Supreme Court has directed the advocates-on-record (AoR) in a given case to mark the appearance of only those lawyers who were authorised to appear and argue the case on a particular day.
The Division Bench of Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma passed the order on Friday on a case where a litigant had denied filing a special leave petition (SLP) and claimed that he had not hired any of the lawyers to represent him.
The Apex Court said the names of appearing advocates should be informed by the AoR on each day of hearing as instructed in a 2022 notice.
The Bench observed that from the bare reading of notice, it clearly transpired that the notice only permitted the Advocate-on-Record to mark the appearances of the Advocates appearing in the Court, through the link provided on the website or on the office mobile app of the Supreme Court.
It said the AoR may mark the appearances of those actually appearing in the case, including the AoR and the lawyers arguing the case on a particular day of hearing.
If there was any change in the name of the arguing Advocate, it shall be duty of the concerned AoR to inform the concerned court master in advance or at the time of hearing of the case and the concerned officers/ court masters should act accordingly, added the Court.