The Supreme Court on Friday threatened to strip a lawyer of his “senior” designation tag after it found that most of frivolous curative petitions filed in the Court over the years were certified by the advocate in question.
Only senior advocates designated by Supreme Court or any High Court are supposed to certify a curative petition, which is the last remedy available for a litigant to seek reconsideration of the decision rendered by the apex court. This remedy was created by way of a judicial decision in Rupa Hurra case decided in 2002. As per the order, a senior lawyer had to certify that the judgment under challenge committed an error of law, will lead to gross injustice, or failed to take note of a material fact.
Noting this high responsibility fixed on the senior counsels before certifying such petitions, a Bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur, called the senior lawyer Parmanand Katara to the front and said, “We have noted that 95 per cent of the curative petitions filed in this Court are certified by you and all are leading to dismissal. They are being dismissed as they are not fit to be filed and you are using your senior status to file such petitions.”
It was ironic for Katara to suffer this fate as he is known to be a PIl crusader having filed close to 70 PIl, some of which have led to landmark decisions, such as the one in 1989 by which Court made it mandatory for doctors of even private hospitals to treat road accident victims on priority when brought by victim’s relatives or passersby. In 1996, Katara’s petition led to another significant decision when SC ruled it mandatory for pillion riders of two-wheelers to wear helmets.
CJI told Katara that the least expected of Katara was to go apply mind on the petition and examine whether the conditions given in Rupa Ashok Hurra case are fulfilled. “Other judges of this Court have complained to me about you. People come to you, pay money, and get these petitions filed. You have developed a reputation that where no senior lawyer is ready to sign, you will sign. We may be forced to withdraw your designation.”
Katara told CJI, “I have acted out of compassion for lawyers and in many cases, it was difficult for me to say no to lawyers approaching me. I will not file any such petition in future.” The Court said that its intention was only to warn him not to spoil his reputation earned over the years.