The Supreme Court on Friday, November 6 dismissed a plea challenging the senior advocate designations conferred by the Allahabad High Court in 2019, refusing to disturb a list that has stood for seven years and telling the petitioner to apply afresh instead of litigating.

Source: LiveLaw

A bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe ordered in Vishnu Behari Tiwari v. High Court of Judicature at Allahabad (SLP(C) Nos. 39561-39562 of 2026): 'We are not inclined to interfere with the order passed by the High Court. We make it clear that the petitioner will be entitled to reapply and upon such application it shall be considered in accordance with the law that governs the subject, including the principle laid down in Jitendra Kalla's case.' During the hearing, Justice Narasimha told the petitioner's counsel: 'Apply. Why do you want to litigate? You apply afresh. Don't unnecessarily litigate.'

Source: LawChakra

A seven-year-old list, and a stalled process

Advocate Pranav Sachdeva, for the petitioner, submitted that Tiwari was not considered despite 15 years of unblemished continuous practice at the Allahabad High Court, and alleged that no evaluation exercise had been held for several years despite the Jitendra Kalla judgment holding that at least one senior-designation exercise must be done every calendar year. The Special Leave Petition challenged the Allahabad High Court's September 2024 judgment rejecting Tiwari's petition; the High Court had itself noted that no senior designations have taken place since 2019, with 236 applications described as pending.

In the 2019 exercise, the Permanent Committee headed by the then Chief Justice resolved that only advocates scoring 45 or more out of 75 points would be eligible for consideration; of the 78 names sent to the Full Court, 75 were designated. The High Court upheld the committee's power to shortlist under the framework in Indira Jaising (2017). While issuing notice earlier, a Supreme Court bench led by Justice Abhay S Oka had questioned the reduction of total marks from 100 to 75; after Justice Oka's retirement the case came before Justice Narasimha's bench. In Jitendra Kalla, the Supreme Court has since discontinued the point-based assessment and the interview process before the Permanent Committee.

What happens next

The dismissal leaves all 75 designations of 2019 undisturbed. Tiwari — and any other advocate who missed out — may apply in the next round, and the application must be considered under the law now governing designations, including the Jitendra Kalla principles. The ruling puts the focus back on the Allahabad High Court to hold the annual exercise the Supreme Court has prescribed, after a gap running since 2019.