NCLAT Says Highly Paid Superstar Lawyers Cannot Dominate Court Proceedings or Monopolise Hearing Time
The tribunal also objected to judges being made to work on Saturdays due to long arguments.
Pulling up Senior Advocates, especially those hired from Delhi for stretching arguments and hogging court time, the Chennai bench of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday said that high fees paid to them and their professional stature cannot allow them to make other litigants wait or force judges to attend courts on Saturdays.
Noting that lengthy arguments by senior lawyers were upsetting its schedule and making it wait for matters, the Bench of Justice N Seshasayee (Judicial Member) and Jatindranath Swain (Technical Member) warned that it will set strict timelines for arguments if senior lawyers continued such practice.
“The fees you are charging and your stature cannot allow other litigants to wait,” the Bench said while speaking about lawyers charging high fees.
“You cannot have the screen space merely because you are a superstar of the Bar and you have been paid heavily. That's your problem and your client's affordability. It has got nothing to do with us,” the Bench added.
The tribunal noted that lawyers take_arguments for too long despite judges allocating them more time than what is reasonably necessary.
“This Saturday, we are going to work. Who pays us? None. Why should we work?” the Bench questioned.
Referring to Senior Advocates from Delhi specifically, the tribunal said advocates hired from the national capital should realise that there is limited time for arguments.
“If counsels do not show some restraint, we will set an outer limit within which argument has to be finished,” the Bench said adding that it would set time schedules irrespective of who appears for the parties.
“And especially lawyers from Delhi, whoever who engage in the lawyers from Delhi, you have to move forward. Otherwise, I will give an outer time limit within which let God come to argue for any of the parties, we worry least,” the Bench added.
The remarks came after the NCLAT faced criticism last month for not hearing appeals despite requests for priority hearing.
On October 27, the Supreme Court had said that when the top court makes a request before courts and tribunals, they are to treat such requests as binding orders.
“In Sona Bansal v. Vashisht Kumar Goyal, this Court was informed that the Principal Bench of NCLAT, New Delhi had not heard the appeal although it had requested this Court for expeditious hearing,” said a Bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran.
“If requests made by this Court are not treated seriously by courts and tribunals, it would be serious contempt of this Court. Such non-compliance shall be viewed seriously,” it added.
The NCLAT on Thursday said that the top court directed matters were creating pressure on its bench as several such appeals were pending before it.
“Please understand, there are about more than half a dozen Supreme Court directed cases which people think that the entire NCLAT Chennai is running only for those five, six cases,” the Bench said.
Terming it as “advocatorial irresponsibility”, the tribunal told lawyers appearing through video conference to apprise their senior colleagues of its concerns.
The tribunal asked advocates why judges should work on Saturdays when senior lawyers could not finish their arguments during the normal working week.
“Tell your seniors. I mean the lawyers who are appearing from the chamber. We are wondering why we have to sit on Saturday,” the Bench said.
“The reason is that you do not finish your arguments from Monday to Friday. This Saturday, we are going to work. Who pays us? None. Why should we work?” it added.
The Bench told lawyers that it was unable to allot time to other litigants and manage its own schedule because of long arguments.
“We are not able to allot time. We are not able to plan our days, and the entire things get sabotaged,” it said.
Senior lawyers were specifically asked why they needed multiple days to convince judges when they can wrap up their principal arguments in less than a day.
“We are intelligent enough. We have been here in the business for last 40 years. Can't we understand? If I don't understand, I am going to ask for clarification,” the Bench said.
The issue came up for discussion again when another lawyer mentioned Senior Advocate Ravindra Hiremath who was engaged in the proceedings but had to attend to another matter.
While agreeing to hear him in the afternoon, the tribunal said lawyers should avoid taking up too much time during arguments.
“It is not necessary that since Sunil Gavaskar played a certain way, the entire cricket is meant to follow Sunil Gavaskar. The team that has a Rahul Dravid also had a Sehwag. So you can also play the Sehwag. Need not match the time taken by the other side,” the Bench said while using a cricket analogy.
The tribunal requested the Senior Advocate to utilise his experience to advance his arguments rather than extending his submissions to match that of his counterparts.
The NCLAT said lawyers who revel in their own speeches often end up wasting time.
“Those who are carried away by their eloquence literally [are] consumed by their eloquence. They start loving their own eloquence. Please push forward,” the Bench said.
The tribunal said it was not stopping lawyers from putting forth their arguments but sought their cooperation in managing time.
The Bench further said that when it asked lawyers to shorten their arguments, it often created an impression that it was rude to them.
“The Bar Bench might be two sides of a coin. The Bench is also flesh and blood. We have blood boiling. We also have a problem to go back and tell our family members what happened,” the Bench said.
The tribunal said while lawyers often quote how the bar and bench are two sides of the same coin, they often fail to appreciate the stress judges are put under due to long arguments.
“If you hear the matters listed at say first 10 or 12 items, sometimes at least half of them will not be heard till noon. Why? Somebody will take time. Just think about the judges sitting there,” it added.
