Supreme war! Senior SC advocate Rajeev Dhawan quits practice post showdown with CJI Dipak Misra

New Delhi : Senior Supreme Court lawyer Rajeev Dhawan on Monday called it quits after a high profile showdown with CJI Dipak Misra.

Dhawan wrote a two-sentence letter to quit his practice. "After the humiliating end to the Delhi (vs Centre) case, I have decided to give up court practice."

Dhawan goes on to note that CJI Misra is "entitled" to take away the "Senior Gown" conferred on the lawyer. However, "I would like to keep it for memory and services rendered," Dhawan said in an addendum.

Dhawan's decision to quit politics comes days after his two heated arguments with CJI Misra; first during the Ayodhya case during which Dhawan and fellow lawyers Kapil Sibal and Dushyant Dave animatedly pleaded that the Supreme Court defer hearings in the Babri-Ram Janmabhoomi case until after the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Secondly, Dhawan was reportedly shouted at CJI Misra during a case while representing Arvind Kejriwal government.

Following these two instances, CJI Misra, in a rare rebuke to Supreme Court lawyers, bluntly said the trend of lawyers raising their voices showed their "inadequacy, incompetence and the fact that they are not even eligible to become seniors".

"If the Supreme Court Bar Association does not regulate such members, we will be forced to regulate them," CJI Misra also said. "When lawyers argue in a manner not in tune with Constitutional language, we will tolerate it, but for how long? If the Bar does not regulate itself, we will be compelled to regulate."

(The quotes have been used from a story posted by India Today)