Last updated:November 18, 2024, 8:58 PM IST

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan heard a group of petitioners seeking 33 per cent reservation of seats for women lawyers in the Delhi High Court Bar Association

The bench fixed November 29 for final arguments and said the verdict in the matter will be delivered thereafter in three days. (Archive photo)

“Enough is enough. Don’t mess with the court,” an outraged Supreme Court said on Monday after a lawyer alleged that lawyers in the Delhi High Court have questioned the lack of adequate representation of women judges in the apex court.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan was hearing a group of petitioners seeking 33 per cent reservation of seats for women lawyers in the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA).

During the hearing, a lawyer appearing on the matter said that lawyers at the Supreme Court asked how many women judges there are in the Supreme Court.

Justice Surya Kant said, “If you are going to play to the gallery by saying all these things, please do. Say it 10 times.

“You’re adding fuel to the fire. Let the media hear it. Don’t mess with the court. That’s enough. Pathetic. That’s not how the bar conducts itself,” he said.

The irritated bench refused to hear any further explanation from the bar body.

“We will hear nothing. Now we will go into the larger issue of the case and finally decide the matter,” it said.

The bench fixed November 29 for final arguments and said the verdict in the matter will be delivered thereafter in three days.

The Supreme Court saw the video clips submitted by senior advocate and DHCBA president Mohit Mathur on deliberations on the issue of 33 per cent reservation at the bar that took place at the general assembly meeting.

It noted that eight video clips were submitted of the deliberations that took place at the DHCBA general meeting, of which only three were relevant.

The petitioner’s counsel said that despite express instructions from the Supreme Court, the DHCBA is offering a post of joint treasurer, which is only a “ceremonial post”.

On November 13, the apex court had said it would like to watch the video of the DHCBA general body meeting to see the “quality and nature” of deliberations held on the issue of women’s reservation at the bar.

The Supreme Court was informed that the proposal to reserve the seats for women at the association meeting was not adopted.

It had said the court would like to see if the proposal to reserve five posts for women in the 15-member executive body of DHCBA which was shifted pursuant to its September 26 order was rejected after due consideration and thorough reasoning.

On September 26, the Supreme Court ordered the DHCBA to have the post of treasurer reserved for the women alongside another post in the association’s five-member office-holding body.

“The general body of the Bar Association shall consider reserving the post of Treasurer exclusively for the women members of the Bar Association,” the bench had directed.

It had added that the general body, besides reserving the post of treasurer for women members, shall also be free to consider the desirability of reserving one more post of officer for women members of the Bar.

“Similarly, there shall be at least three women members out of ten senior executives. The general body may also decide that out of three women members of the executive committee, at least one will be a senior advocate,” it had instructed.

The Supreme Court had then ordered the general meeting to preferably be held in 10 days.

It had asked Mathur to even direct the Bar Associations of District Courts to have similar arrangements in place.

The executive committee of the Supreme Court Bar Association has 15 members, of which five are civil servants. On May 2, in a landmark order aimed at increasing the representation of women in the Bar, the Supreme Court had ordered that 33 per cent of posts on the SCBA’s executive committee be reserved for women members.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)