Institute of Legal and Management Studies

Chief Justice of India BR Gavai today expressed displeasure at a request made on behalf of the Attorney General for India R Venkataramani to adjourn the Madras Bar Association case, which is listed tomorrow.

"Very unfair to the Court," CJI Gavai told Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, who made the adjournment request for the Attorney General. ASG submitted that the AG has an international arbitration scheduled tomorrow and hence sought an accommodation.

"We have accommodated him for so much time. We have accommodated him twice. This is not fair to the Court," CJI Gavai said. "If you want to keep it after (November) 24th, you tell us frankly," CJI said (CJI Gavai is retiring on November 23).

On the previous date, CJI had expressed displeasure at the submission made by the AG to refer the matter to a larger bench. CJI had asked if the argument for reference was a "tactic" to avoid the bench.

When ASG requested that the matter be taken up on Monday, CJI asked, "When do we write the judgment then? This week also we cannot write the judgment. This is very unfair to the Court. After accommodating him twice...every day we are told that he is busy with arbitration, we accommodate him. Then on the last moment at midnight, you come with an application to refer it to the Constitution Bench!"

CJI further asked why cannot anyone else represent the Union in the matter if the AG is not available. "You have a battery of competent ASGs." ASG Bhati replied that it was the AG who had been appearing in the Madras Bar Association matter.

"Then he should have been here. Practice of the High Court is that if you are on your legs in a matter, the first preference is to the part-heard matter. When we are in the High Court, whatever briefs we had, we had to give up for the part-heard. We have the highest respect for the highest Constitutional lawyer. But if this is the manner in which hearings are shunted off...we have not kept any other matter tomorrow with a view that we finish the (Madras Bar Association) matter tomorrow and utilise Saturday and Sunday for the judgment," CJI Gavai said.

The Chief Justice ultimately agreed to accommodate the AG on Monday and said, "let Mr.Datar make his submissions tomorrow. We will hear the learned AG on Monday. If he does not come, we will close the matter on Monday."

The bench is hearing the petition filed by the Madras Bar Association challenging the constitutional validity of the Tribunal Reforms Act 2021. Earlier, Senior Advocate Arvind P Datar, for the petitioner, had made arguments, raising concerns about the provisions such as age-limit, length of tenure etc.