'Don't be too honest' advice SC judge Sanjay Kumar to lawyer - check why

"Our egos are very fragile. You don't want to offend the ego of the judge. Your case will go out," observed Supreme Court judge PV Sanjay Kumar during a hearing on a lawyer's adjournment appeal

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

In an unusual moment at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, Justice PV Sanjay Kumar had some unexpected advice for a junior lawyer: “Don't be too honest!” Justice Kumar’s advice came when a young lawyer told the court that his senior, who was supposed to argue the case, was still busy at the High Court, reported Bar and Bench. 

 

“You must not be so honest. Learn that in future — you should never say in the Supreme Court that your senior is busy in the High Court ... Our egos are very fragile. You don’t want to offend the ego of the judge. Your case will go out. Directly. Not on merits. Do not tell things like this. Small white lies are permitted,” he said.

 

Justice Vikram Nath, who was also part of the bench, agreed. “Your senior should have taught you these things,” he told the junior lawyer. 

 

Earlier, the junior lawyer had asked the court to pass over the case — which means to take it up a little later. But when the case was called again at the end of the board, he repeated that his senior was still in the High Court.

 

In the end, the bench adjourned the matter to July 14.

 

This moment highlighted a candid exchange in the courtroom, reflecting both the pressures of court hierarchy and the importance of courtroom conduct. 

 

SC precedence in such case 

In 2022, during a Supreme Court hearing, a junior lawyer mentioned that the senior counsel was unavailable and requested an adjournment. The Bench, led by Justice DY  Chandrachud, gently reminded the junior about courtroom etiquette.

 

The junior said that the senior counsel “was busy elsewhere” and could not appear. Justice Chandrachud smiled and replied, “You must learn how to present these things. Don’t say your senior is busy elsewhere — say he is on a Constitution Bench or before another bench. It sounds better.”