Overview

• The Supreme Court ordered a stay on police summons to a Gujarat-based lawyer and barred any further coercive action until new guidelines are in place
• A bench led by Justices K.V. Viswanathan and N. Kotiswar Singh framed two key questions on direct summons of counsel and the need for judicial oversight
• The court sought assistance from the Attorney General, Solicitor General, Bar Council of India and presidents of SCBA and SCAORA to formulate procedural safeguards
• The Enforcement Directorate issued a circular instructing officers not to summon advocates under Section 132 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 without its director’s approval
• Earlier ED summons to senior advocates Arvind Datar and Pratap Venugopal were withdrawn after legal bodies condemned the actions as a threat to lawyer-client privilege