The full court of Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna has issued show cause notice to Senior Advocate Rishi Malhotra seeking explanation from him on why his his senior designation should not be revoked..The decision was taken at a meeting of the full court held on March 12. One of the members privy to the meeting confirmed that the "sharp practices adopted by Malhotra" was the focal point of the meeting.The full court was convened after CJI Khanna was informed about a recent judgment authored by Justice Oka flagging the practices adopted by Malhotra.The February 20 judgment of the top court raised concerns about the existing process of senior advocate designation and also highlighted key issues in the current system and referred the matter to the CJI for further consideration by a larger bench.That judgment also flagged the conduct of Malhotra prompting action from the full court..Bar and Bench tried to contact Malhotra but he was unreachable..Malhotra was designated Senior Advocate by the Supreme Court in August 2024..He has been embroiled in controversy since September-October 2024 after an advocate-on-record (AoR), who was earlier his junior, told the top court that that he had signed off on appeal filed before the Court at Malhotra's instance and was unaware that the appeal did not disclose certain crucial factsThis was after the Supreme Court found that the appeal filed through AoR Jaydip Pati did not disclose certain crucial facts which were relevant to the case.These facts were suppressed while filing the appeal for remission of sentence of a convict.The Court, therefore, sought an explanation from Pati.Pati then filed an affidavit before the Court stating that he never doubted the bonafides of Malhotra and hence signed off on the pleadings as requested by the Senior Advocate.He also highlighted that he was Malhotra's chamber junior and he could not fathom that Malhotra would take advantage of the same.Later in December 2024, Justice Oka-led bench had strongly criticized the conduct of Malhotra who allegedly failed to inform his client about the status of the case filing, despite receiving fees from the client. .Dying with dignity means lesser pain, quicker death: Rishi Malhotra on why hanging should be outlawed by Supreme Court.Notably, ex-Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud had in January 2023 praised Malhotra while hearing a case."We must commend that whenever you appear before us, you always place the facts in a clear manner. Even facts against your client. So we know there is a degree of assurance here."Read our interview with him on his public interest litigation (PIL) petition against hanging as a mode of death penalty.
