Supreme Court to hear plea on ED summoning lawyers
The Supreme Court is set to look into whether investigating agencies can call in lawyers for questioning just because they advised their clients.
This comes after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned two senior advocates, Arvind Datar and Pratap Venugopal, over their work with Care Health Insurance, even though the ED recently told its officers not to summon lawyers in money laundering cases without top-level approval.
Lawyers' groups have pushed back
This case is a big deal for anyone who cares about fair legal help.
Lawyers' groups have pushed back, saying these summonses could threaten the independence of the legal profession and make it harder for people to get honest advice.
The Supreme Court's decision could shape how much protection lawyers have from being pulled into investigations just for doing their jobs—and set new rules for how agencies interact with legal counsel going forward.