New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed strong disapproval of the “scurrilous and unfounded allegations” made in a petition challenging the conferral of senior designations to lawyers.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan questioned advocate Mathews J Nedumpara, who represented the petitioners, about the baseless assertions in the plea. The bench asked, “Are you able to name any judges whose offspring have been appointed as senior counsel?” stressing that the allegations lacked foundation.

The petition, filed by Nedumpara and several other advocates, contained insinuations about judges, suggesting that many sitting or retired judges had family members who were designated as senior counsel, thus insinuating nepotism and corruption within the system. The bench remarked that such comments were not only baseless but also harmful to the integrity of the judicial system.

During the proceedings, the bench pointed out that the petition contained “scurrilous” allegations against the judiciary, specifically the claim that judges’ family members were unfairly awarded senior designations. The petition contained a statement that implied it was almost impossible to find a judge without a relative, over the age of 40, still struggling to gain prominence in the legal field. This raised concerns among the judges about the broader implications of such remarks.

Justice