The Delhi High Court has directed its Portfolio Committee to examine whether advocates residing in the National Capital Region (NCR) are eligible for allotment of lawyers’ chambers in Delhi District Courts.
A Division Bench of Justice V. Kameswar Rao and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora disposed of a writ petition filed by an advocate challenging the residence-based eligibility condition under the rules governing chamber allotment in the Shahdara/Karkardooma, Dwarka and Rohini District Courts.
What the petitioner argued
The petitioner questioned the condition that restricts eligibility only to advocates residing within the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. According to him, the exclusion of advocates living in NCR areas is arbitrary. He further contended that the restriction violates constitutional guarantees of equality and non-discrimination.
In addition, the petitioner pointed out that many advocates who regularly practise before Delhi courts live in Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad. He also submitted that several of these NCR areas are geographically closer to certain district court complexes than parts of Delhi itself. On this basis, the petitioner argued that the residence-based rule is unreasonable.
GNCTD relied on Supreme Court precedent
On behalf of the Government of NCT of Delhi (GNCTD), Mr. Sameer Vashisht, Standing Counsel (Civil), relied on the Supreme Court decision in Gopal Jha v. Supreme Court of India (2019).
In that case, the Supreme Court took note of urban expansion and changing conditions in and around Delhi. It observed that the authorities may need to reconsider residence-based eligibility for chamber allotment. However, the Supreme Court also clarified that such policy decisions fall within the domain of the competent allotment committees.
High Court’s direction
Relying on the above precedent, the Division Bench observed that the grievance is more appropriately placed before the High Court’s Portfolio Committees. Therefore, the Court referred the issue to the appropriate Portfolio Committee for consideration and disposed of the writ petition.
Appearance
For the Petitioner: Mr. Rajat Malhotra, Mr. Sudhanshu Sharma, Mr. Saksham Bansal, Ms. Kamayni Tripathi and Ms. Yamini Bansal, Advocates
For Respondents 1, 3 and 5: Mr. Sameer Vashisht, Standing Counsel (Civil), GNCTD, with Ms. Harshita Nathrani and Ms. Khushboo Mittal, Advocates
Case title
Sh Piyush Gupta Advocate v. The Chamber Allotment Committee & Ors.
