The Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) has issued a formal statement expressing strong disapproval of the Enforcement Directorate’s issuance of a notice to Senior Advocate Arvind Datar. The notice, which related to a legal opinion provided by Mr. Datar, has drawn a firm response from the legal fraternity, with SCAORA terming the action an impermissible encroachment on professional independence and a misuse of executive authority.
Senior Advocate had rendered a legal opinion as part of his professional obligations. Subsequently, the Enforcement Directorate issued a notice summoning him in connection with that opinion. While the agency later withdrew the summons, the issuance itself has prompted an institutional response from SCAORA, which has called the act arbitrary and improper.
In its official statement, SCAORA described the Enforcement Directorate’s notice as “not only unwarranted but reflects a disturbing trend of investigative overreach.” The association emphasised that such actions “threaten the independence of the legal profession and undermine the very foundation of the rule of law.”
Referring to Mr. Datar as a “respected Senior Advocate of unimpeachable integrity,” the Association viewed the ED’s move as “a misuse of authority and an affront to the sanctity of the advocate’s role.”
The statement invoked broader constitutional principles, asserting that “the independence of the judiciary and the independence of the Bar are twin pillars of our constitutional democracy.” It further warned that coercive action against advocates for professional legal advice “strikes at the institutional structure that ensures justice.”
Quoting precedent, the statement recalled that “the Hon'ble Supreme Court has, time and again, held that advocates are not liable for the alleged acts of their clients simply for rendering legal opinions.” SCAORA criticised the agency’s approach as one that “conflates legal advice with criminal complicity, a proposition that is constitutionally untenable and legally unjustifiable.”
Even though the notice to Mr. Datar was later withdrawn, SCAORA has “lodged its strong protest against the arbitrary exercise of executive power by the agencies,” framing the event as part of a broader concern regarding the erosion of professional and judicial independence.
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