Advocates body seeks CJI intervention after ED issues summons to senior lawyers
The Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) on Friday raised concerns over the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoning yet another senior legal professional — this time, senior advocate Pratap Venugopal, and urged Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai to take immediate suo motu cognisance of what the body described as a serious infringement on the independence of the legal profession and lawyer-client confidentiality.
Venugopal was the Advocate-on-Record (AoR) for a legal opinion rendered by senior counsel Arvind Datar that supported the allotment of the Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) by Care Health Insurance to former Religare Enterprises Chairperson Rashmi Saluja. While ED had earlier this month summoned Datar as well, that notice was subsequently withdrawn after protests from the legal fraternity.
In a letter dated June 20, SCAORA President Vipin Nair termed the ED's action 'a deeply disquieting development,' cautioning that such coercive measures strike at the heart of legal privilege and the fundamental tenets of the rule of law.
Venugopal, who was designated as a senior advocate earlier this year, received an ED summons on June 19 under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The summons relates to the ongoing investigation into the ESOP matter.
In its letter, SCAORA asserted that such actions amount to an 'impermissible transgression' of the sacrosanct principle of lawyer-client privilege. It warned that if left unchecked, this trend could have a chilling effect on the entire legal community, discouraging lawyers from rendering candid legal advice and undermining the independence of the Bar.
'The role of an advocate in offering legal advice is both privileged and protected. Interference by investigative agencies, particularly in respect of opinions rendered in a professional capacity—strikes at the core of the rule of law,' the letter stated.
SCAORA urged the Supreme Court to intervene and examine the legality and propriety of issuing summonses to advocates for professional opinions, besides framing guidelines to prevent future incursions into lawyer-client confidentiality.
This is the second time in recent days that the Association has raised its voice against such summonses. On June 16, SCAORA issued a public statement condemning the ED's notice to Datar, terming it 'unwarranted' and indicative of a growing trend of investigative overreach.
On June 17, the Delhi High Court Bar Association also passed a resolution strongly criticising the ED's move, calling it a direct threat to the constitutional right to legal representation and fair trial.
The Gujarat High Court Advocates Association too convened an emergency meeting the same day, with its president Brijesh Trivedi denouncing the ED's actions as violative of legal independence. The body demanded immediate government action to protect attorney-client privilege through statutory amendments to the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
25 minutes ago
- Business Standard
ED seizes 322 mule accounts, dummy firms in ₹2K cr 'Delhi classroom scam'
The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), during its search operations on June 18, 2025, at 37 locations across Delhi under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in the 'Delhi Classroom Construction Scam', recovered 322 bank passbooks linked to mule accounts opened in the names of labourers and used to divert government funds under the guise of legitimate transactions. 'Furthermore, forged letterheads of various private contractors and shell entities, which were used to generate fake procurement records and fictitious purchase bills, were found and seized. Evidence relating to fake invoices submitted to Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) departments, showing inflated or entirely bogus claims, was found and seized,' said an ED press statement. The ED initiated investigation on the basis of a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Anti-Corruption Branch, GNCTD, against Manish Sisodia (the then education minister), Satyendar Jain (the then public works department minister), and others pertaining to financial misappropriation exceeding Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of approximately 12,748 additional classrooms by the Public Works Department (PWD), Government of NCT of Delhi, between 2015 and 2023. The ED further said that several dummy firms were found during the search which had no real infrastructure, documentation or operational legitimacy, but were shown to have received substantial payments for construction activities relating to the additional classrooms. 'Additionally, substantial incriminating documents and digital evidence have been recovered and seized during the search,' said the ED. 'Despite an initial requirement for 2,405 classrooms, the project scope was arbitrarily increased to 7,180 equivalent classrooms, and subsequently to 12,748 rooms without proper sanction or approvals, resulting in massive cost escalations,' said the ED press statement. The ED further said that there was unjustified adoption of richer specifications proposed by M/s Babbar & Babbar Associates, and execution of duplicate and inflated works. Cost escalations of up to 49.03 per cent were observed across Priority-I and Priority-II phases. During the operation, the investigative agency unearthed substantial incriminating evidence from the premises of private contractors. 'Among the materials seized were original departmental files belonging to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, as well as rubber stamps bearing the names and designations of officials from the Public Works Department (PWD),' said the ED.
NDTV
an hour ago
- NDTV
Fake Bills, Mule Accounts Found In Delhi Classroom Construction Scam: Probe Agency
New Delhi: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has unearthed substantial incriminating evidence in connection with the alleged 'Delhi classroom construction scam', following large-scale search operations carried out on June 18. The searches were conducted at 37 locations across the national capital under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The ED's probe stems from a first information report (FIR) filed by the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi government against former ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain, among others. The case involves alleged financial misappropriation to the tune of over Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of approximately 12,748 additional classrooms by the public works department (PWD) between 2015 and 2023. Investigators said the initial requirement was for 2,405 classrooms, but the project scope was arbitrarily and repeatedly expanded-first to 7,180 "equivalent classrooms" and later to 12,748 rooms - without proper sanction or administrative approval. This led to significant cost escalations, reportedly up to 49.03 per cent across different project phases. ED officials said the search operation revealed original departmental files belonging to the Delhi government and rubber stamps bearing names and designations of PWD officials from the premises of a private contractor. They also recovered 322 bank passbooks linked to mule accounts, allegedly opened in the names of labourers to facilitate diversion of government funds under the guise of legitimate payments. The agency uncovered fake letterheads of contractors and shell entities, used to fabricate procurement records and generate fictitious purchase bills. Several dummy firms with no real infrastructure or operations were allegedly shown to have received substantial payments for classroom construction. The ED seized forged invoices submitted to government departments, many of which either reflected inflated costs or entirely fictitious claims. Digital evidence and other financial documents recovered during the search are currently under forensic examination. The agency said the evidence points to widespread corruption, use of shell entities, and systemic diversion of public funds. Further investigation is going on.
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
ED seizes Delhi govt files, over 300 passbooks in classroom 'scam' case searches
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized over 300 passbooks linked to mule bank accounts, allegedly used to divert Delhi government funds from a classroom construction "scam" during the AAP's previous tenure. The ED's investigation, triggered by an ACB FIR, revealed financial misappropriation exceeding Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of additional classrooms, with cost escalations and irregularities in project execution. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads More than 300 passbooks, linked to mule bank accounts opened in the names of labourers, have been seized through which Delhi government funds sourced from the classroom-construction "scam" during the previous AAP regime were "diverted", the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on federal probe agency conducted searches in connection with the case at 37 locations in Delhi on June AAP had termed the ED action a "desperate" attempt to divert public attention and asserted that the allegations against its leaders were "politically motivated".The ED case, filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), stems from an FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of Delhi on April 30 against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders and former ministers in the cabinet of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal Satyendar Jain and some 53, held the finance and education portfolios in the previous AAP government in the national capital and Jain, 60, was in-charge of the public works department and some other ED statement said the agency officials have "unearthed substantial incriminating evidence from the premises of a private contractor"."Among the materials seized were original departmental files belonging to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, as well as rubber stamps bearing the names and designations of officials from the Public Works Department (PWD)," it officials also found that "322 bank passbooks linked to mule accounts (used for transacting illicit funds) opened in the names of labourers used to divert government funds under the guise of legitimate transactions".Some "forged" letterheads of private contractors and shell entities, which were used to generate fake procurement records and fictitious purchase bills, were also seized during the ED said the case pertains to financial "misappropriation" exceeding Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of 12,748 additional classrooms by the PWD between 2015 and an initial requirement for 2,405 classrooms, the project scope was "arbitrarily" increased to 7,180 equivalent classrooms and, subsequently, to 12,748 rooms "without" proper sanction or approvals, resulting in "massive" cost escalations, the agency said there was an "unjustified" adoption of richer specifications proposed by the executing company named Babbar and Babbar Associates and execution of duplicate and inflated works."Cost escalations of up to 49.03 per cent were observed across priority-I and priority-II phases," it agency also claimed to have found "several dummy firms during the searches, which had no real infrastructure, documentation or operational legitimacy, but were shown to have received substantial payments for construction activities relating to the additional classrooms".The AAP said on June 18 that the "so-called raids are nothing but a desperate attempt to divert public attention from the reality. The allegations are baseless, politically motivated and timed only to distract from the BJP's anti-people actions".Sisodia and Jain have been questioned by the ACB in the ACB FIR came about after alleged lapses in the case were flagged by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders like Kapil Mishra, Harish Khurana and Neelkant Bakshi had, in 2019, filed a complaint with the ACB alleging serious financial irregularities in the construction of classrooms across three zones of ACB alleged that the total expenditure incurred on the project amounted to Rs 2,892 crore, pushing the per-classroom cost to Rs 24.86 lakh, compared to the estimated Rs 5 lakh under standard claimed that the project was awarded to 34 contractors, most of whom were allegedly linked to the AAP.
