New Delhi: In unprecedented and dramatic turn of events, eminent constitutional expert and senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan on Monday accused Chief Justice Dipak Misra of “humiliating him in court” and announced that he will not practice in the Supreme Court.
Mr Rajeev Dhavan, 71, in a two-sentence letter to the CJI, said: “After the humiliating end to the Delhi case, I have decided to give up court practice. You are entitled to take back the senior gown conferred on me, though I would like to keep it for memory and services rendered.” Mr Dhavan’s decision to quit court practice comes a few days after Chief Justice Misra took exception to senior lawyers, including Mr Dhavan, raising their voice to allegedly browbeat judges. On December 6, an angry CJI had observed, “What happened on Wednesday (in Delhi-Centre case) was atrocious and what happened a day before (in the Ayodhya case) was more atrocious. Come what may, shouting in the courtroom will not be tolerated at any cost.” Chief Justice Misra also said, “Lawyers are called ministers of justice. Unfortunately, a small group of lawyers think they can raise their voice. You can argue with authority and conviction. Raising your voice shows inadequacy and incompetence.” “When lawyers argue in a manner not in tune with Constitutional language, we will tolerate it, but for how long,” he added.
Mr Dhavan, who has a career spanning over three decades, was admonished by the Supreme Court in three cases taken up on three consecutive days last week.
On December 5, during the hearing on the Ayodhya title dispute case, several senior lawyers, including Mr Dhavan, Kapil Sibal and Dushyant Dave, had argued vociferously for adjournment till July 2019 and threatened to walk out of the court.
Mr Dhavan, in particular, had told the CJI to not begin the final arguments in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title case as the CJI wouldn’t be able to complete it by October 3, 2018, which is his retirement date.
Apart from the Ayodhya matter, Mr Dhavan was pulled up by the court during a hearing on appeals filed by the Delhi government in its power tussle against the Centre’s representative and lieutenant governor Anil Baijal.
He was also admonished during the hearing on a Parsi woman’s petition on her religious identity after marrying a Hindu. The top court expressed displeasure during the hearing over what it called lawyers violating decorum.
Mr Dhavan is the author of several books and also is a regular columnist in several newspapers. He has appeared in a number of high profile cases and constitutional matters with eloquence.
