‘Do not lie to the court’ -A advice from Supreme Court to junior advocates

“Do not lie to the court” — this advice from the Supreme Court to a junior advocate invited suppressed smirks from a small crowd of lawyers and litigants present before a vacation Bench on Wednesday.

What followed from a Bench comprising Justice B Sudershan Reddy and Aftab Alam made a lot of sense as it was an expression of deep anguish over the manner in which lawyers resort to falsehood and suppression of facts causing immense harm to the trust judges once reposed in them.

To deliver speedy justice, given the spiralling litigation and huge pendency of cases, judges have to rely on statements made by lawyers about their cases, the Bench said, adding that if judges had to read each and every word in case files, disposal would take years.

“What will happen if the judges become wary of lawyers’ statements made across the Bar. In the apex court, we trust the advocates for they and the judges are equal partners in administration of justice. How can we carry on with the job if we start distrusting the lawyers,” the Bench said.

It made no attempt to hide its deep hurt to find a writ petition filed by an advocate suppressing the fact that his client’s earlier petition was dismissed by a three-judge Bench of the apex court and his petition seeking review of the dismissal order was pending.

Source:- The Times of India 11 June 2009 P.12 Delhi
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