Plea In Madras HC Seeks To Limit Number Of Advocates Appearing For A Litigant, Says It's Becoming A Culture For Politicians To Gather Mass

Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice PD Audikesavalu noted that though submissions were made with respect to the powers of the Bar Council to frame rules, the Bar Council was not made a party. Following this, the Bar Council was made a party.

In his plea, Advocate N Mahendra Babu submitted that while he was attending the Saidapet Court on July 14^th, 2023, he witnessed as many as 200 advocates accompanying K Annamalai, the Regional President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who had appeared in the court in connection with a defamation case. Petitioner says this virtually created a stampede both inside and outside the court complex. He also submitted that similar situations have cropped up in the past when Subramanian Swamy had appeared in the Madras High Court in 2009.

Babu further submitted that the court building was as old as the Madras High Court itself and was a heritage building. He added that the building space was not sufficient to the astronomical increase of volume of cases due to population explosion and extension of the City limits.

He further submitted that in Tamil Nadu, it had become a routine culture for politicians to show mass and their popularity while appearing for court hearing. He alleged that politicians are even in the habit of paying money to the advocates while appearing for trial. He added that even media persons were causing havoc and greater degree of nuisance within the court premises.

Since there is no upper limitation to the number of lawyers appearing for a single accused, he made a representation to the Registrar general also. Thus, he prayed for framing rules with respect to the number of advocates who could represent the clients.

Case Title: N Mahendra Babu v. The Registrar General

Case No: WP 22971 of 2023