"Muted At Justice Arun Mishra's Farewell": Dushyant Dave To Chief Justice

Senior advocate and President of the Supreme Court Bar Association Dushyant Dave shot off a critical letter to Chief Justice SA Bobde today expressing his disappointment at not being allowed to speak at the farewell of Justice Arun Mishra.

Advocate Dave, who has long been critical of the senior Supreme Court judge, said in his letter: "I will never again participate in any function being organised by the Supreme Court till my term as Supreme Court Bar Association President is over in December".

Advocate Dave said he had accepted an invitation to join the Ceremonial Bench of the Chief Justice of India, but was not allowed to speak.

He had alleged that his microphone was "put on mute" when Justice Mishra's virtual farewell started at the end of the hearing of day's cases through video-conferencing.

"I must confess, the Supreme Court has come to such levels where the Judges are afraid of the Bar. Please do remember, Judges come and go but we, the Bar, remain constant. We are the real strength of this great Institution because we are permanent," he said.

"I saw and heard all the proceedings clearly ... For some unknown reasons, I was being disconnected again and again, but I persisted and rejoined each time," Mr Dave said.

He further wrote that after an address by the CJI, Justice Mishra was invited to speak.

"At that stage, realising the game plan, I exited in the larger interests of the dignity of the Bar and Myself. But what is most important is that I messaged the Secretary-General asking why I was kept on mute and why was I at all invited... He responded (almost two hours later) saying he is instructing the Registrar to look into it, by which time it was too late.

"The entire episode leaves much to be desired on the part of this great Institution. The whole attempt was to prevent me from addressing on behalf of the SCBA and its Executive Committee, after having invited and invitation having been accepted. This was clearly an affront to the Bar and to me personally," he said.