Summoning Lawyers
Probe agency can't summon lawyers unless in exceptional cases, says SC
This story was originally published at 11:51 IST on 31 October 2025
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NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court Friday held that probe agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate cannot summon lawyers in connection with the opinion they had given to clients unless in exceptional circumstances given under the Section 132 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhinayam, 2023.
Section 132 states that no advocate shall disclose any advice given to his client or communication made to the lawyer by the client unless the client gives consent. However, communication which was made in furtherance of any illegal purpose, any fact observed by any advocate, in the course of his service as such, showing that any crime or fraud has been committed since the commencement of his service, shall not be protected.
The bench, led by Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai, said that any digital devices seized from lawyers must be produced before the jurisdictional criminal trial court and opened only in the presence of the advocate and other parties concerned. The top court set aside summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate to advocate Arvind Datar and Pratap Venugopal.
The top court was hearing a suo moto registered case on the incidents of the Enforcement Directorate summoning senior advocates Arvind Datar and Pratap Venugopal, while investigating money laundering cases. The agency had summoned the advocates who were giving legal advice to Care Health Insurance Ltd. on the employee stock ownership plan given to Rashmi Saluja, former chairperson of Religare Enterprises Ltd.
The Supreme Court Bar Association and the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association had condemned the summons issued by the probe agency and called it a "disturbing trend" that struck at the very foundations of the legal profession. Various intervention applications were also filed in the case by the lawyers' association. The top court allowed all intervention applications by the lawyers' association and asked the parties to file comprehensive notes on the issue. End
Reported by Surya Tripathi
Edited by Vandana Hingorani
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