ELITE CLUB DOMINATING THE INDIAN JUDICIARY
THE CONUNDRUM OF THE DESIGNATION OF SENIOR ADVOCATE "Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose, they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress." ~ Martin Luther King ABSTRACT The Indian courtrooms are ruled by an oligarchy of the senior judges. They have a potential influence over the working of the judiciary, which of course is based on favoritism. Senior advocates enjoy a suite of privileges and very few restrictions. They have a right of pre-audience in courtrooms: judges must hear them first. They don’t file cases or handle legal paperwork; they only argue. And the law bars them from entertaining litigants directly. Instead, clients come through briefing counsels who act as go-betweens. These powerful people believe that the judiciary is bound in their shackles of dominance and power. Rather than thinking about the rights of the downtrodden, a lot of them worry about mai...