Supreme Court judge Justice Bela M Trivedi on Wednesday remarked that it was painful for her to take steps against lawyers at the fag end of her career for their misconduct [N Easwaranathan v. State]..The Bench of Justices Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma was hearing a criminal case in which it had previously censured Advocate-on-record P Soma Sundaram for alleged suppression of facts in a case."It is painful for me that at the fag end of my career I have to take such steps. But I cannot shut my eyes to the wrong. If others had done wrong, would we accept unconditional apology? Just because you are AoR, we will accept it?," Justice Trivedi remarked today as she reserved her order on Sundaram's alleged misconduct.Justice Trivedi, who retires from the top court on June 9, had earlier also taken exception to the misconduct of lawyers at the top court. "The standard is deteriorating so much. We wanted concrete proposals from SCAORA and SCBA. Nobody is thinking for the institution. I must have passed number of orders in the last 4 years and nothing has happened. Orders are not even read," she said..In the present case, the Bench had earlier taken strong exception to an accused person filing a petition before the Court with distorted facts and not complying with an earlier order to surrender before the authorities. Since the plea was filed through Sundaram, he had been asked to explain his conduct. Various Bar leaders had come in support of Sundaram, leading into a heated exchange of words in Justice Trivedi's courtroom. Today, Sundaram tendered an unconditional apology. However, the Court was not satisfied with the explanation."Where is your explanation? Was the first order conveyed to the petitioner.. where is it stated? Why has he not surrendered for 8 months and he was to do that in 2 weeks and you have dared to file 2nd SLP. What is your explanation?," Justice Trivedi remarked.The Court further said,"To say sorry is the easiest excuse. Unconditional apology was tendered last time also."As senior lawyers present in the courtroom urged the Court to forgive Sundaram, Justice Trivedi took exception to what she considered as lawyers trying to pressurise the court."You all come together here and almost pressurise the court to not pass orders and courts are succumbing to it," she said. However, the Bar leaders said that it was only a suggestion."We only suggested," a lawyer said.However, Justice Trivedi highlighted the heated exchange that took place between Justice Trivedi and the lawyers during the previous hearing of the matter on April 1."What happened last time? Was it a suggestion?" she demanded.The Court then reserved its decision with regard to Sundaram..When the Court today said that it had earlier also passed orders with regard to the deteriorating conduct of lawyers at the top court, President Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) Vipin Nair said they have started holding training program for AoRs every weekend..I cannot shut my eyes to the wrong. Nobody is thinking for the institution.Justice Bela Trivedi.Earlier, AoR Sundaram's absence in court had irked the Court on March 28.The explanation that he was out of station and was travelling to Tamil Nadu was not accepted by the Bench, which then asked him to appear today with the tickets of his travel as proof. Pursuant to that, Sundaram had appeared in Court with the tickets of his journey.However, the Bench today pointed out that only return tickets were presented and not the tickets for onward journey."This ticket is a return ticket. We asked for travel ticket. You are an AoR. All are with you and you are not able to explain basic facts," Justice Trivedi remarked..This ticket is a return ticket. We asked for travel ticket.Justice Bela Trivedi.The case itself stemmed from a criminal case under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and other offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).The petitioner, who was represented by Sundaram, and other accused had been convicted by trial court and were sentenced to three years. Their criminal appeals before the Madras High Court were dismissed in 2023.The petitioner had then filed an appeal before the Supreme Court challenging the High Court judgment and also sought exemption from surrendering. The same was dismissed by the top court which asked the accused to surrender within two weeks. However, he then filed another SLP before the Court.Today, the Court ordered issuance of a non-bailable warrant against the petitioner (accused)."On his arrest, he shall be produced before the trial court which shall send him to the concerned jail authorities," the Court ordered.